IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/
MyIDEAS: Log in (now much improved!) to save this article

On the dynamics of poverty and income inequality in US states

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Nicholas Apergis

Abstract

Purpose - This study seeks to provide answers to the following questions: Is there a relationship between poverty and income inequality in the short run/long run? Is the relationship unidirectional from income inequality to poverty as the previous studies assume, or is it bidirectional? Design/methodology/approach - The paper investigates the causality between income inequality and poverty within a multivariate framework using a panel data set of 50 US states over the period 1980 to 2004. Findings - The results reveal that a bidirectional relationship exists between poverty and income inequality both in the short run and in the long run. With respect to the short-run dynamics associated with poverty, both income inequality and the unemployment rate have a positive and statistically significant impact on poverty, a negative and statistically significant impact for real per capita personal income and level of education, while corruption is insignificant. In terms of the short-run dynamics associated with income inequality, poverty, the unemployment rate, real per capita personal income, and the level of education have a positive and statistically significant impact, while corruption has a statistically insignificant impact on income inequality. With regard to the long-run dynamics, the statistically significant error correction terms indicate the presence of a feedback relationship between poverty and income inequality. Originality/value - This study contributes to the existing empirical literature on several fronts. First, while previous studies rely on cross-country data, both the cross-sectional and time series variation of a panel data set of all 50 US states spanning the period 1980 to 2004 is exploited. Second, while the previous studies implicitly assume unidirectional causality from income inequality and poverty in their model specifications, the short-run and long-run causal dynamics between poverty and income inequality within a panel vector error correction model are explicitly examined.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/01443581111128370?utm_campaign=RePEc&WT.mc_id=RePEc
Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Article provided by Emerald Group Publishing in its journal Journal of Economic Studies.

Volume (Year): 38 (2011)
Issue (Month): 2 (May)
Pages: 132-143

as
in new window

Handle: RePEc:eme:jespps:v:38:y:2011:i:2:p:132-143
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.emeraldinsight.com

Order Information: Postal: Emerald Group Publishing, Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley, BD16 1WA, UK
Web: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/jes.htm Email:


Keywords: Poverty; Income; Equal opportunities; United States of America;

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

as
in new window


  1. Engle, Robert & Granger, Clive, 2015. "Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing," Applied Econometrics, Publishing House "SINERGIA PRESS", vol. 39(3), pages 106-135.
  2. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, 1986. "Testing for Individual Effects in Dynamic Models Using Panel Data," NBER Technical Working Papers 0057, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  3. Kaddour Hadri, 2000. "Testing for stationarity in heterogeneous panel data," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 3(2), pages 148-161.
  4. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2002. "Growth Is Good for the Poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 195-225, September.
  5. Pedroni, Peter, 2004. "Panel Cointegration: Asymptotic And Finite Sample Properties Of Pooled Time Series Tests With An Application To The Ppp Hypothesis," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(03), pages 597-625, June.
  6. Choi, In, 2001. "Unit root tests for panel data," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 249-272, April.
  7. Peter Pedroni, 2000. "Fully Modified OLS for Heterogeneous Cointegrated Panels," Department of Economics Working Papers 2000-03, Department of Economics, Williams College.
  8. Josep Lluís Carrion-i-Silvestre & Tomás del Barrio-Castro & Enrique López-Bazo, 2005. "Breaking the panels: An application to the GDP per capita," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 8(2), pages 159-175, 07.
  9. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
  10. Fisman, Raymond & Gatti, Roberta, 2002. "Decentralization and Corruption: Evidence from U.S. Federal Transfer Programs," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 113(1-2), pages 25-35, October.
  11. Fredriksson, Per G. & List, John A. & Millimet, Daniel L., 2003. "Bureaucratic corruption, environmental policy and inbound US FDI: theory and evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1407-1430, August.
  12. Kalwij, Adriaan & Verschoor, Arjan, 2007. "Not by growth alone: The role of the distribution of income in regional diversity in poverty reduction," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 805-829, May.
  13. Pedroni, Peter, 1999. " Critical Values for Cointegration Tests in Heterogeneous Panels with Multiple Regressors," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(0), pages 653-670, Special I.
  14. Dincer, Oguzhan C., 2008. "Ethnic and religious diversity and corruption," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 98-102, April.
  15. Rajeev Goel & Daniel Rich, 1989. "On the economic incentives for taking bribes," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 269-275, June.
  16. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
  17. Glaeser, Edward L. & Saks, Raven E., 2006. "Corruption in America," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(6-7), pages 1053-1072, August.
  18. Nicholas Apergis & Oguzhan Dincer & James Payne, 2010. "The relationship between corruption and income inequality in U.S. states: evidence from a panel cointegration and error correction model," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 125-135, October.
  19. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2003. "Halving Global Poverty," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 3-22, Summer.
Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.

as
in new window


Cited by:

  1. Ke-Mei Chen & Te-Mu Wang, 2015. "Determinants of Poverty Status in Taiwan: A Multilevel Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 371-389, September.

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Access and download statistics

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:jespps:v:38:y:2011:i:2:p:132-143. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Virginia Chapman)

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis using RePEc data.