“…Generally speaking, it is believed that convergence of health care expenditures, possibly due to income convergence, is more likely to occur across regions within a country than across countries, given that these regions are relatively more homogenous than countries in terms of economic conditions, policies related to health, technology, the structure of the health industry, consumer preferences, and general features characterizing the health care system (Wang, 2009 (Chang et al, 2015). Our modifications of the standard IPS test are in two directions.…”