A Reexamination of Output Convergence in the U.S. States: Toward Which Level(s) are they Converging?
用多种面板数据方法检验1929-2001年美国48个州的人均产出趋同，发现各州整体未随机趋同，但地理邻近的州之间存在趋同，工业结构和地理邻近性可能是原因。
Abstract. This paper reexamines the issue of output convergence among the 48 states in the continental United States. Implementing multiple panel data techniques to state per capita output during the period 1929–2001 reveals little evidence of stochastic convergence in all 48 states, but some evidence among collections of states at the regional level. This observation may suggest that output convergence in the United States has proceeded among geographically neighboring states rather than among distant states, notwithstanding the nearly complete integration of product and factor markets. Our findings appear to be robust to a subsample analysis, although the intensity of convergence varies with the choice of output measure and deflator. Industrial structures and geographic proximity are considered as potential explanations for the regional pattern of output growth dynamics.