Federal, state, and local governments: evaluating their separate roles in US growth

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

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Abstract: We use US county level data from 1970 to 1998 to explore the relationship between economic growth and government employment at three levels: federal, state and local. Increases in federal, state and local government employments are all negatively related to economic growth. We find no evidence that government is more efficient at lower levels. While we cannot separate out the productive and redistributive services of government, we document that the county-level income distribution became slightly more unequal from 1970 to 1998. We conclude that a release of government-employed labor inputs to the private sector would be growth-enhancing.

Keywords: Economic Growth; Federal Government; State Government; Local Government; County-Level Data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-06
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02387510
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Published in Public Choice, 2009, 139 (3-4), pp.493-507. ⟨10.1007/s11127-009-9405-3⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: Federal, state, and local governments: evaluating their separate roles in US growth (2009)
Journal Article: Federal, State, and Local Governments: Evaluating Their Separate Roles in US Growth (2009)
Working Paper: Federal, State, and Local Governments: Evaluating their Separate Roles in US Growth (2009)
Working Paper: Federal, State, and Local Governments:Evaluating their Separate Roles in US Growth (2008)
Working Paper: Federal, State, and Local Governments: Evaluating their Separate Roles in US Growth (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02387510

DOI: 10.1007/s11127-009-9405-3

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