IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/japmet/v39y2024i6p1172-1179.html

The US structural transformation and regional convergence: Racial heterogeneity

Author

Listed:
  • Minki Kim
  • Munseob Lee

Abstract

Structural transformation and regional convergence in US income are both longstanding trends. Caselli and Coleman (2001) documented that 60% of regional convergence between the US South and North from 1940 to 1990 was due to structural transformation. Our replication confirms these robust findings. Examining black and white populations separately, we find the magnitude of regional income convergence was much larger for the black workers, and that structural transformation explains most regional income convergence for white workers but only 30% for black workers. Extending the analysis until 2020, however, we observe income convergence among black workers and divergence among white workers. Structural transformation's role in income convergence or divergence from 1990 to 2020 is negligible.

Suggested Citation

  • Minki Kim & Munseob Lee, 2024. "The US structural transformation and regional convergence: Racial heterogeneity," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(6), pages 1172-1179, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:japmet:v:39:y:2024:i:6:p:1172-1179
    DOI: 10.1002/jae.3074
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.3074
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/jae.3074?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. L. Rachel Ngai & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "Gender Gaps and the Rise of the Service Economy," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 1-44, October.
    2. Restuccia, Diego & Yang, Dennis Tao & Zhu, Xiaodong, 2008. "Agriculture and aggregate productivity: A quantitative cross-country analysis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 234-250, March.
    3. Ganong, Peter & Shoag, Daniel, 2017. "Why has regional income convergence in the U.S. declined?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 76-90.
    4. Francisco J. Buera & Joseph P. Kaboski, 2012. "The Rise of the Service Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2540-2569, October.
    5. Lisa D Cook & Maggie E C Jones & Trevon D Logan & David Rosé, 2023. "The Evolution of Access to Public Accommodations in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 37-102.
    6. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Jonathan Guryan, 2008. "Prejudice and Wages: An Empirical Assessment of Becker's The Economics of Discrimination," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 773-809, October.
    7. Francesco Caselli & Wilbur John Coleman II, 2001. "The U.S. Structural Transformation and Regional Convergence: A Reinterpretation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(3), pages 584-616, June.
    8. Sundstrom, William A., 1994. "The Color Line: Racial Norms and Discrimination in Urban Labor Markets, 1910–1950," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 382-396, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Herrendorf, Berthold & Rogerson, Richard & Valentinyi, Ákos, 2014. "Growth and Structural Transformation," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 6, pages 855-941, Elsevier.
    2. Khan, Muhammad Aamir, 2020. "Cross sectoral linkages to explain structural transformation in Nepal," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 221-235.
    3. Berthold Herrendorf & Todd Schoellman, 2018. "Wages, Human Capital, and Barriers to Structural Transformation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Georg Duernecker & Berthold Herrendorf, 2022. "Structural Transformation of Occupation Employment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(356), pages 789-814, October.
    5. Keigo Nishida, 2014. "Agricultural productivity differences and credit market imperfections," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 1262-1276, December.
    6. Caselli, Francesco, 2005. "Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 679-741, Elsevier.
    7. Jedwab, Remi & Vollrath, Dietrich, 2015. "Urbanization without growth in historical perspective," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-21.
    8. Margarida Duarte & Diego Restuccia, 2020. "Relative Prices and Sectoral Productivity," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 1400-1443.
    9. Zsófia L. Bárány & Christian Siegel, 2018. "Job Polarization and Structural Change," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 57-89, January.
    10. Alvarez-Cuadrado, Francisco & Long, Ngo Van & Poschke, Markus, 2018. "Capital-labor substitution, structural change and the labor income share," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 206-231.
    11. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4he5e8ba3929rhrgcti3so9af is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Kai Ding & Filippo Rebessi, 2020. "Optimal Agricultural Policy: Small Gains?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(4), pages 1907-1928, October.
    13. Fedderke, Johannes W., 2018. "Exploring unbalanced growth: Understanding the sectoral structure of the South African economy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 177-189.
    14. Ye, Longfeng & Robertson, Peter E., 2019. "Hitting the Great Wall: Structural change and China's growth slowdown," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-1.
    15. Takeda, Kohei, 2022. "The geography of structural transformation: effects on inequality and mobility," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118050, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. repec:cam:camjip:2410 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. repec:osf:osfxxx:8nfx5_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Gunes Asik & Ulas Karakoc & Mohamed Ali Marouani & Michelle Marshalian, 2019. "Productivity, structural change and skills dynamics: Evidence from a half century analysis in Tunisia and Turkey," Working Papers 20190001, UMR Développement et Sociétés, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement.
    19. Huoqing Cao & Chaoran Chen & Xican Xi & Sharon Xuejing Zuo, 2024. "Family migration and structural transformation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(3), pages 753-776, August.
    20. Tasso Adamopoulos & Diego Restuccia, 2014. "The Size Distribution of Farms and International Productivity Differences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1667-1697, June.
    21. Garriga, Carlos & Hedlund, Aaron & Tang, Yang & Wang, Ping, 2021. "Rural-urban migration and house prices in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    22. Berlingieri, Giuseppe, 2013. "Outsourcing and the rise in services," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 51532, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    23. Ziyao Huang & Fang Yang, 2024. "Macroeconomic Impacts of College Expansion on Structural Transformation and Energy Economy in China: A Heterogeneous Agent General Equilibrium Approach," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-31, July.

    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:wly:japmet:v:39:y:2024:i:6:p:1172-1179. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/0883-7252/ .

    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.