Human Capital, Demographics, and Growth across the US States 1920-1990

Abstract

This paper finds robust evidence that age structure matters for subsequent growth in per capita income across the US states 1920-1990. The age groups 25-65 year are positively related to subsequent per capita income growth. Another conclusion is that the average years of schooling affects subsequent per capita income growth positively when age structure is controlled for. Moreover, the estimated speed of convergence (see e.g. Barro and Sala-i-Martin, 1992) increases substantially when schooling and age structure are held constant in the income growth regressions.Demographics; Human capital; Regions; Growth; Convergence