In this paper we outline (i) why sigma-convergence may not accompany beta-convergence, (ii) discuss evidence of beta-convergence … sigma-convergence cannot be detected at the county-level across the U.S., or within the large majority of the individual U …

In this paper we outline (i) why sigma-convergence may not accompany beta-convergence, (ii) discuss evidence of beta-convergence … sigma-convergence has not occurred at the county-level across the U.S., or within the vast majority of the individual U …

We use US county-level data to estimate convergence rates for 22 individual states. We find significant heterogeneity …. E.g., the California estimate is 19.9% and the New York estimate is 3.3%. Convergence rates are essentially uncorrelated …

-IV estimation method, we find that all statistically significant convergence rates (for 32 individual states) are above 2 percent …, with an average of 8.1 percent. For 7 states the convergence rate can be rejected as identical to at least one other state …’s convergence rate with 95 percent confidence. Convergence rates are negatively correlated with initial income. The size of …