Robust Correlates of County-Level Growth in the U.S.

Higgins, Matthew and Young, Andrew and Levy, Daniel (2007): Robust Correlates of County-Level Growth in the U.S.

Abstract

Higgins et al. (2006) report several statistically significant partial correlates with U.S. per capita income growth. However, Levine and Renelt (1992) demonstrate that such correlations are hardly ever robust to changing the combination of conditioning variables included. We ask whether the same is true for the variables identified as important by Higgins et al. Using the extreme bounds analysis of Levine and Renelt, we find that the majority of the partial correlations can be accepted as robust. The variables associated with those partial correlations stand solidly as variables of interest for future studies of U.S. growth.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Mississippi, and Bar-Ilan University
• Language: English
• Keywords: Economic Growth; Conditional Convergence; Extreme Bounds Analysis; County-Level Data
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O40 - General; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O5 - Economywide Country Studies > O51 - U.S. ; Canada; H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies > H50 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O47 - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth ; Aggregate Productivity ; Cross-Country Output Convergence; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O18 - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis ; Housing ; Infrastructure; H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government ; Intergovernmental Relations > H70 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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