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Recent changes in the nature of the distribution dynamics of the US county incomes

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  • Seonyoung Park
  • Donggyun Shin

Abstract

We study the evolution of the cross‐sectional distributions of county‐level per capita income in the United States from 1970 to 2017. We confirm previous findings of convergence in pre‐transfer income during the 1970s and 1980s but present new evidence of rising inequality since the early 1990s, which is characterized by bipolarization. Cross‐county differences in education and industry composition explain much of this recent trend, which almost disappears in post‐transfer incomes. Among the various government transfer programs, medical benefits play the greatest role in making the distribution less unequal.

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  • Seonyoung Park & Donggyun Shin, 2023. "Recent changes in the nature of the distribution dynamics of the US county incomes," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(7), pages 1048-1067, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:japmet:v:38:y:2023:i:7:p:1048-1067
    DOI: 10.1002/jae.3006
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