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Many Types of Human Capital and Many Roles in U.S. Growth: Evidence from County-Level Educational Attainment Data

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew T. Young

    (Emory University)

  • Daniel Levy

    (Bar-Ilan University and Emory University)

  • Matthew J. Higgins

    (Emory University)

Abstract

We utilize county-level data to explore the roles of different types of human capital accumulation in U.S. growth determination. The data includes over 3,000 cross-sectional observations and 39 demographic control variables. The large number of observations provides enough degrees of freedom to obtain estimates for the U.S. as a whole and for 32 states in and of themselves. This data contains measures of educational attainment for four distinct categories: (a) 9 to11 years, (b) high school diploma, (c) some college and (d) bachelor degree or more. These variables represent human capital stocks for each and every county. This is a departure from much of the economic growth literature, which has (at least in part) relied on extrapolation of stocks from flows, e.g. school enrollment data. We use a consistent two stage least squares estimation procedure. We find that (i) the percentage of a county’s population with less than a high-school education is negatively correlated with economic growth, (ii) the percentage obtaining a high school diploma is positively correlated with growth, and (iii) the percentage obtaining some college education has no clear relationship with economic growth but (iv) the percentage that obtains a bachelor degree or more is positively correlated with growth. Further, we find that (v) there is significant qualitative heterogeneity in estimated coefficients across states for the 9 to 11 years and high school diploma categories but (vi) no qualitative heterogeneity for the college level categories. The most consistent conclusion across samples is that the percent of a county’s population obtaining a bachelor degree or higher level of college education has a positive relationship with economic growth. Oddly enough, despite findings (ii), (iv) and (vi) above, we find that the percentage of a county’s population employed in educational services is negatively correlated with economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew T. Young & Daniel Levy & Matthew J. Higgins, 2004. "Many Types of Human Capital and Many Roles in U.S. Growth: Evidence from County-Level Educational Attainment Data," Working Papers 2004-05, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:biu:wpaper:2004-05
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    Cited by:

    1. Snir, Avichai & Levy, Daniel, 2010. "Economic Growth in the Potterian Economy," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 211-236.
    2. Kehinde Oluseyi Olagunju & Adebayo Isaiah Ogunniyi & Kunle Francis Oguntegbe & Ibrahim Oluwole Raji & Kolawole Ogundari, 2019. "Welfare Impact of Globalization in Developing Countries: Examining the Mediating Role of Human Capital," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-24, August.
    3. Churen Sun & Jinqiang Xu & Hui Jiang, 2025. "Can China's aid promote the position upgrading of recipient countries in the global value chains," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(1), pages 230-250, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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