Abstract
In this paper, we outline (i) why σ-convergence may not accompany β-convergence, (ii) discuss evidence of β-convergence in the United States, and (iii) use U.S. county-level data containing over 3,000 cross-sectional observations to demonstrate that σ-convergence cannot be detected at the county level across the United States, or within the large majority of the individual U.S. states considered separately. Indeed, in many cases statistically significant σ-divergence is found.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1083-1093 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Money, Credit and Banking |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2008 |
Keywords
- Balanced growth
- Gini coefficient
- Income distribution
- Income equality
- Solow growth model
- Speed of convergence
- U.S. county-level data
- β-convergence
- σ-convergence