H50

National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General

Heterogeneous Convergence

JEL codes: 
H50, H70, O11, O18, O40, O51, R11
Version Date: 
Apr 2013
Author/s: 
Abstract: 

We use U.S. county-level data to estimate convergence rates for 22 individual states. We find significant heterogeneity. E.g., the California estimate is 19.9 percent and the New York estimate is 3.3 percent. Convergence rates are essentially uncorrelated with income levels.

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Federal, State, and Local Governments: Evaluating their Separate Roles in US Growth

JEL codes: 
E60, E62, E64, E69, H50, H70, O11, O18, O40, O43, O47, O50, O51, R11
Version Date: 
Dec 2008
Author/s: 
Abstract: 

We use US county level data (3,058 observations) from 1970 to 1998 to explore the relationship between economic growth and the extent of government employment at three levels: federal, state and local. We find that increases in federal, state and local government employments are all negatively associated with economic growth.

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