Growth and Convergence across the United States: Evidence from County-Level Data

Matthew Higgins, Daniel Levy () and Andrew Young ()
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Andrew Young: TTU - Texas Tech University [Lubbock]

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Abstract: We use U.S. county data (3,058 observations) and 41 conditioning variables to study growth and convergence. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) and three-stage least squares with instrumental variables (3SLS-IV), we report on the full sample and metro, non-metro, and and regional samples: (1) OLS yields convergence rates around 2%; 3SLS yields 6%–8%; (2) convergence rates vary (for example, the Southern rate is 2.5 times the Northeastern rate); (3) federal, state, and local government negatively correlates with growth; (4) the relationship between educational attainment and growth is nonlinear; and (5) the finance, insurance, and real estate industry and the entertainment industry correlate positively with growth, whereas education employment correlates negatively.

Keywords: Economic Growth; Conditional Convergence; County-Level Data; US States; US Counties; Convergence Rate; Federal Government; State Government; Local Government; Educational Attainment; US Metro Areas; US Non-Metro Areas; US Regions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02387008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (107)

Published in Review of Economics and Statistics, 2006, 88 (4), pp.671-681. ⟨10.1162/rest.88.4.671⟩

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Journal Article: Growth and Convergence across the United States: Evidence from County-Level Data (2006)
Journal Article: Growth and Convergence across the United States: Evidence from County-Level Data (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02387008

DOI: 10.1162/rest.88.4.671

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