Growth and Convergence Across the U.S.: Evidence from County-Level Data

54 Pages Posted: 3 Oct 2005

See all articles by Matthew John Higgins

Matthew John Higgins

University of Utah - Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition

Daniel Levy

Bar-Ilan University - Department of Economics; Emory University - Department of Economics; International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University; Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis; International Centre for Economic Analysis

Andrew T. Young

Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business

Abstract

We use U.S. county data (3,058 observations) and 41 conditioning variables to study growth and convergence. Using OLS and 3SLS-IV we report on the full sample and metro, non-metro, and 5 regional samples: (1) OLS yields convergence rates around 2 percent; 3SLS yields 6-8 percent; (2) convergence rates vary (e.g., 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) finance, insurance & real estate industry and entertainment industry positively correlates with growth while education employment negatively correlates.

Keywords: Economic Growth, Conditional Convergence, County-Level Data

JEL Classification: O40, O11, O18, O51, R11, H50, H70

Suggested Citation

Higgins, Matthew John and Levy, Daniel and Young, Andrew T., Growth and Convergence Across the U.S.: Evidence from County-Level Data. Review of Economics and Statistics, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=811044

Matthew John Higgins

University of Utah - Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy ( email )

1655 East Campus Center Dr.
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition ( email )

Marstallplatz 1
Munich, Bayern 80539
Germany

Daniel Levy

Bar-Ilan University - Department of Economics ( email )

Ramat-Gan, 5290002
Israel
+972 3 531-8345 (Phone)
+972 3 738-4034 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://econ.biu.ac.il/en/levy

Emory University - Department of Economics ( email )

1602 Fishburne Drive, Suite 306
Rich Building
Atlanta, GA 30322-0001
United States

HOME PAGE: http://economics.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/biography/levy-daniel.html

International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University ( email )

16 Zandukeli Street
Tbilisi, 0108
Georgia

Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis ( email )

Rimini
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.rcea.world/

International Centre for Economic Analysis ( email )

Wilfrid Laurier University
75 University Ave W.
Waterloo, Ontario N2L3C5
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://https://iceanet.org/

Andrew T. Young (Contact Author)

Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business ( email )

Lubbock, TX 79409
United States

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