IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/apeclt/v15y2008i12p929-934.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An alternative perspective on the stochastic convergence of incomes in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Steven Cook

Abstract

In recent years a number of studies has examined the potential stochastic convergence of incomes in the United States. This research has been based upon examination of the order of integration of the ratios of regional levels of per-capita income relative to US aggregate per-capita income, with stationary of the ratios taken as evidence of stochastic convergence. In the present article this research and its implicit assumption that the individual regional and aggregate per-capita series are I(1), are revisited. In a departure from previous research, application of a more robust testing procedure incorporating two structural breaks to the individual aggregate and regional per-capita series, rather than their ratios, is seen to result in overwhelming rejection of the unit root hypothesis for all of the series examined. The unit root hypothesis is rejected also for more disaggregated State level data. The evidence of stationarity presented for the component per-capita income series suggests that care should be exercised when both interpreting results presented previously in the literature and conducting further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Cook, 2008. "An alternative perspective on the stochastic convergence of incomes in the United States," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(12), pages 929-934.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:15:y:2008:i:12:p:929-934
    DOI: 10.1080/13504850600949186
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&doi=10.1080/13504850600949186&magic=repec&7C&7C8674ECAB8BB840C6AD35DC6213A474B5
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13504850600949186?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    2. Zivot, Eric & Andrews, Donald W K, 2002. "Further Evidence on the Great Crash, the Oil-Price Shock, and the Unit-Root Hypothesis," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(1), pages 25-44, January.
    3. Evans, Paul, 1996. "Using cross-country variances to evaluate growth theories," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 20(6-7), pages 1027-1049.
    4. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    5. Bernard, Andrew B & Durlauf, Steven N, 1995. "Convergence in International Output," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(2), pages 97-108, April-Jun.
    6. Amsler, Christine & Lee, Junsoo, 1995. "An LM Test for a Unit Root in the Presence of a Structural Change," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 359-368, February.
    7. Nunes, Luis C & Newbold, Paul & Kuan, Chung-Ming, 1997. "Testing for Unit Roots with Breaks: Evidence on the Great Crash and the Unit Root Hypothesis Reconsidered," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 59(4), pages 435-448, November.
    8. Carlino, Gerald A. & Mills, Leonard, 1996. "Testing neoclassical convergence in regional incomes and earnings," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 565-590, December.
    9. Junsoo Lee & Mark C. Strazicich, 2003. "Minimum Lagrange Multiplier Unit Root Test with Two Structural Breaks," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 1082-1089, November.
    10. Junsoo Lee & Mark C. Strazicich, 2001. "Break Point Estimation and Spurious Rejections With Endogenous Unit Root Tests," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 63(5), pages 535-558, December.
    11. Sala-i-Martin, Xavier X., 1996. "Regional cohesion: Evidence and theories of regional growth and convergence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1325-1352, June.
    12. Danny Quah, 1993. "Galton's Fallacy and Tests of the Convergence Hypothesis (Now published in Scandinavian Journal of Economics 95 (4), 1993, pp.427-443.)," STICERD - Econometrics Paper Series 265, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    13. Barro, Robert J & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Convergence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(2), pages 223-251, April.
      • Barro, R.J. & Sala-I-Martin, X., 1991. "Convergence," Papers 645, Yale - Economic Growth Center.
      • Barro, Robert J. & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Convergence," Scholarly Articles 3451299, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    14. Quah, Danny T., 1996. "Empirics for economic growth and convergence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1353-1375, June.
    15. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    16. Cannon, Edmund S & Duck, Nigel W, 2000. "Galton's Fallacy and Economic Convergence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 415-419, April.
    17. Lee, Junsoo & Strazicich, Mark C, 2001. "Break Point Estimation and Spurious Rejections with Endogenous Unit Root Tests," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 63(5), pages 535-558, December.
    18. Strazicich, Mark C. & Lee, Junsoo & Day, Edward, 2004. "Are incomes converging among OECD countries? Time series evidence with two structural breaks," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 131-145, March.
    19. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 1991. "Convergence across States and Regions," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 107-182.
    20. Robin L. Lumsdaine & David H. Papell, 1997. "Multiple Trend Breaks And The Unit-Root Hypothesis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(2), pages 212-218, May.
    21. Perron, Pierre, 1989. "The Great Crash, the Oil Price Shock, and the Unit Root Hypothesis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(6), pages 1361-1401, November.
    22. Banerjee, Anindya & Lumsdaine, Robin L & Stock, James H, 1992. "Recursive and Sequential Tests of the Unit-Root and Trend-Break Hypotheses: Theory and International Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 10(3), pages 271-287, July.
    23. Kim, Tae-Hwan & Leybourne, Stephen J & Newbold, Paul, 2000. "Spurious Rejections by Perron Tests in the Presence of a Break," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 62(3), pages 433-444, July.
    24. Bliss, Christopher, 2000. "Galton's Fallacy and Economic Convergence: A Reply to Cannon and Duck," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 420-422, April.
    25. Li, Qing & Papell, David, 1999. "Convergence of international output Time series evidence for 16 OECD countries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 267-280, September.
    26. Bliss, Christopher, 1999. "Galton's Fallacy and Economic Convergence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 4-14, January.
    27. Quah, D., 1990. "Galton'S Fallacy And The Tests Of The Convergence Hypothesis," Working papers 552, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    28. Tae‐Hwan Kim & Stephen J. Leybourne & Paul Newbold, 2000. "Spurious Rejections by Perron Tests in the Presence of a Break," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 62(3), pages 433-444, August.
    29. Quah, Danny, 1993. " Galton's Fallacy and Tests of the Convergence Hypothesis," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(4), pages 427-443, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Burcu Ozcan, 2014. "Does Income Converge among EU Member Countries following the Post-War Period? Evidence from the PANKPSS Test," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 22-38, October.
    2. Steve Cook & Tom Winfield, 2013. "Crime across the States: Are US Crime Rates Converging?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(9), pages 1724-1741, July.
    3. Herrerias, M.J. & Ordoñez, J., 2012. "New evidence on the role of regional clusters and convergence in China (1952–2008)," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 1120-1133.
    4. Connaughton, John E. & Swartz, Caroline, 2015. "Changes in State PCPI Rankings," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 45(1).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cunado, J. & Perez de Gracia, F., 2006. "Real convergence in Africa in the second-half of the 20th century," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 153-167.
    2. Strazicich, Mark C. & Lee, Junsoo & Day, Edward, 2004. "Are incomes converging among OECD countries? Time series evidence with two structural breaks," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 131-145, March.
    3. Eftychia Tsanana & Constantinos Katrakilidis, 2014. "Do Balkan economies catch up with EU? New evidence from panel unit root analysis," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 41(4), pages 641-662, November.
    4. Steve Cook, 2012. "β-convergence and the Cyclical Dynamics of UK Regional House Prices," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(1), pages 203-218, January.
    5. A. F. Galvao Jr & F. A. Reis Gomes, 2007. "Convergence or divergence in Latin America? A time series analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(11), pages 1353-1360.
    6. Burcu Ozcan, 2014. "Does Income Converge among EU Member Countries following the Post-War Period? Evidence from the PANKPSS Test," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 22-38, October.
    7. Burak GÜRIŞ & İpek M. YURTTAGÜLER & Muhammed TIRAŞOĞLU, 2017. "Unemployment convergence analysis for Nordic countries: Evidence from linear and nonlinear unit root tests," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(1(610), S), pages 45-56, Spring.
    8. Steve Cook & Tom Winfield, 2013. "Crime across the States: Are US Crime Rates Converging?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(9), pages 1724-1741, July.
    9. Burak GÜRIŞ & İpek M. YURTTAGÜLER & Muhammed TIRAŞOĞLU, 2017. "Unemployment convergence analysis for Nordic countries: Evidence from linear and nonlinear unit root tests," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(1(610), S), pages 45-56, Spring.
    10. Bernd Aumann & Rolf Scheufele, 2010. "Is East Germany catching up? A time series perspective," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 177-192.
    11. Carlino, Gerald A. & Mills, Leonard, 1996. "Testing neoclassical convergence in regional incomes and earnings," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 565-590, December.
    12. Ceylan, Reşat & Abiyev, Vasif, 2016. "An examination of convergence hypothesis for EU-15 countries," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 96-105.
    13. Meng, Ming & Payne, James E. & Lee, Junsoo, 2013. "Convergence in per capita energy use among OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 536-545.
    14. Pei-Chien Lin & Chun-Hung Lin & I-Ling Ho, 2013. "Regional convergence or divergence in China? Evidence from unit root tests with breaks," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 50(1), pages 223-243, February.
    15. Emanuele Russo & Neil Foster-McGregor, 2022. "Characterizing growth instability: new evidence on unit roots and structural breaks in countries’ long run trajectories," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 713-756, April.
    16. Juncal Cunado & Fernando Perez de Gracia, 2006. "Real convergence in some Central and Eastern European countries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(20), pages 2433-2441.
    17. Nicholas Apergis & Christina Christou & Stephen Miller, 2012. "Convergence patterns in financial development: evidence from club convergence," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 1011-1040, December.
    18. Pei-Chien Lin & Ho-Chuan Huang, 2012. "Convergence in income inequality? evidence from panel unit root tests with structural breaks," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 153-174, August.
    19. Durlauf, Steven N. & Quah, Danny T., 1999. "The new empirics of economic growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 235-308, Elsevier.
    20. Cem Ertur & Julie Le Gallo & Catherine Baumont, 2006. "The European Regional Convergence Process, 1980-1995: Do Spatial Regimes and Spatial Dependence Matter?," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 29(1), pages 3-34, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:15:y:2008:i:12:p:929-934. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEL20 .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.