The causes of regional variation in U.S. poverty: A cross-county analysis

The persistence of poverty in the modern American economy, with rates of poverty is some areas approaching those of less industrialized nations, remains a central concern among policy makers. Therefore, this study uses U.S. county-level data to explore potential explanations for the observed regional variation in the rates of poverty. The use of counties allows examination of both rural and urban poverty, with rural poverty being a relatively unexplored topic. Factors considered include those that relate to both area economic performance and the demographic makeup of the area. Specific factors examined include: economic growth, immigration, domestic migration, industry restructuring, and spatial mismatch.

The causes of regional variation in U.S. poverty: A cross-county analysis

The persistence of poverty in the modern American economy, with rates of poverty is some areas approaching those of less industrialized nations, remains a central concern among policy makers. Therefore, this study uses U.S. county-level data to explore potential explanations for the observed regional variation in the rates of poverty. The use of counties allows examination of both rural and urban poverty, with rural poverty being a relatively unexplored topic. Factors considered include those that relate to both area economic performance and the demographic makeup of the area. Specific factors examined include: economic growth, immigration, domestic migration, industry restructuring, and spatial mismatch

The Economic Impacts of Native American Gaming in Wisconsin

An input-output model is utilized to assesses the economic impact of gambling in Native American casinos in Wisconsin. Important facts include interview information from 697 players. Positive economic gains discovered for local casino areas are offset by losses to other parts of the state and by losses due to social costs

Geographic Determinants of Hi-Tech Employment Growth in U.S. Counties

This paper examines the spatial pattern of U.S. county employment growth in high-tech industries. The spatial growth dimensions examined include industry cluster effects, urbanization effects, proximity to a college, and proximity in the urban hierarchy. Growth is examined for overall high-tech employment and for employment in various high-tech sectors. Econometric analyses are conducted for a sample of all counties and for metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties separately. Among our primary findings, we do not find evidence of positive localization or cluster growth effects, generally finding negative growth effects. We instead find some evidence of positive urbanization effects and growth penalties for greater distances from larger urban areas.

PERSISTENT POCKETS OF EXTREME AMERICAN POVERTY: PEOPLE OR PLACE BASED?

Over the past four decades almost 400 U.S. counties have persistently had poverty rates in excess of 20 percent. These counties are generally characterized by weak economies and disadvantaged populations. This raises the hotly debated question of whether poverty-reducing policies should be directed more at helping people or helping the places where they reside. Using a variety of regression approaches, including geographically weighted regression analysis, we consistently find that local job growth especially reduces poverty in persistent-poverty counties. We also find that persistent-poverty counties do not respond more sluggishly to exogenous shocks, nor do they experience more adverse spillover effects from their neighboring counties. Finally, we identify some key geographic differences in the poverty determining mechanism among persistent-poverty clusters. Taken together, these results indicate that place-based economic development has a potential role for reducing poverty in these counties.poverty, persistent poverty, economic development policies, place-based policies, Food Security and Poverty,

International immigration and domestic out-migrants: Are domestic migrants moving to new jobs or away from immigrants?

Immigration is one of the most emotional topics in the political arena, which is an issue that has not gone unnoticed by economists. Recent studies usually examine sub-national areas to take advantage of the widely varying local concentrations of immigrants. Yet, there is no consensus on the overall local effects of immigration on migration behavior of domestic residents, although there is consensus that immigration has little influence on local area wages (but there is debate about immigration's influence on national wages). One reason why the regional influence of immigrants is so hard to pin down is the many offsetting economic responses. For example, in response to an influx of recent immigrants, natives and previous immigrants may out-migrate to produce no net effect on total labor supply and, hence, no net effect on local employment or wages. In addition, very little is known about the destinations of native out-migrants. Do they avoid states with greater shares of immigrants, or do they respond to more standard economic measures such as relative growth rates. Using U.S. state-level data, this study examines the effects of recent and past immigration on state-to-state net-migration patterns and on the behavior of domestic state-to-state out-migrants. A key advantage of our migration measures is that we measures of state-to-state migration flows. Thus, we can examine differences across all 1,128 state-to-state migration flows for the lower 48 states. This sample provides considerably more information than the standard approach, which would be analogous to only estimating the 48 state net-migration rates on immigration rates and other control variables. Moreover, state-to-state data allows us to consider whether the domestic out-migrants are moving to states with relatively greater shares of immigrant levels than the origin state, which is an issue that has not been considered in past research. For example, we can answer whether domestic out-migrants are primarily driven by labor market effects or by possible aversion to states with greater shares of immigrants (not just new immigrants)

Geographic Determinants of Hi-Tech Employment Growth in U.S. Counties

This paper examines the spatial pattern of U.S. county employment growth in high-tech industries. The spatial growth dimensions examined include industry cluster effects, urbanization effects, proximity to a college, and proximity in the urban hierarchy. Growth is examined for overall high-tech employment and for employment in various high-tech sectors. Econometric analyses are conducted for a sample of all counties and for metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties separately. Among our primary findings, we do not find evidence of positive localization or cluster growth effects, generally finding negative growth effects. We instead find some evidence of positive urbanization effects and growth penalties for greater distances from larger urban areas

Should Oklahoma Be More Like Texas? A Taxing Decision

This paper considers whether Texas should serve as the economic policy model for Oklahoma, particularly in terms of reducing or eliminating the state income tax. I compare Oklahoma’s recent economic performance to that of Texas and other adjacent states. Comparisons are made at both the state and county levels, for different time periods, and for several economic indicators. County level regression analysis, of all counties, and separately for only border counties, both explicitly and implicitly controls for potential non-policy growth influences. Overall, I conclude that there is not sufficient evidence to warrant Oklahoma emulating Texas economic policies

Spatial Concentration of American Poverty: Should We Care, and What Are the Options?

Partridge and Rickman explore the wide geographic disparities in poverty across the United States. Their focus on the spatial dimensions of U.S. poverty reveals distinct differences across states, metropolitan areas, and counties and leads them to consider why antipoverty policies have succeeded in some places and failed in others.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1012/thumbnail.jp

The Geography of American Poverty: Is There a Need for Place-Based Policies?

Partridge and Rickman explore the wide geographic disparities in poverty across the United States. Their focus on the spatial dimensions of U.S. poverty reveals distinct differences across states, metropolitan areas, and counties and leads them to consider why antipoverty policies have succeeded in some places and failed in others.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1012/thumbnail.jp