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Convergence in income inequality in the United States: a nonparametric analysis

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  • Roberto Ezcurra
  • Pedro Pascual

Abstract

This note investigates the spatial distribution of income inequality in the US over the period 1969 to 1999. Taking into account the methodological limitations of traditional convergence analysis, a non parametric approach is applied to examine the dynamics of the entire cross-sectional distribution. The study reveals the presence of a process of convergence in income inequality across the US states throughout the sample period, as a result of the evolution experienced by those sates located at both ends of the distribution in 1969. Nevertheless, the estimates performed suggest that this process will not continue indefinitely.

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  • Roberto Ezcurra & Pedro Pascual, 2009. "Convergence in income inequality in the United States: a nonparametric analysis," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(13), pages 1365-1368.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:16:y:2009:i:13:p:1365-1368
    DOI: 10.1080/13504850701439319
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    Cited by:

    1. Kutuk, Yasin, 2022. "Inequality convergence: A world-systems theory approach," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 150-165.
    2. Nicholas Apergis & Christina Christou & Rangan Gupta & Stephen M. Miller, 2015. "Convergence in Income Inequality: Further Evidence from the Club Clustering Methodology across the U.S. States," Working Papers 201539, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    3. Kyungmin Kim, 2022. "Income inequality convergence: Evidence from the World Inequality Database," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(4), pages 1858-1873.
    4. Shatakshee Dhongde & Xing Miao, 2013. "Cross-Country Convergence in Income Inequality," Working Papers 290, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    5. Nicholas Apergis & Christina Christou & Rangan Gupta & Stephen M. Miller, 2018. "Convergence in Income Inequality: Further Evidence from the Club Clustering Methodology across States in the U.S," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 24(2), pages 147-161, May.
    6. Arčabić, Vladimir & Kim, Kyoung Tae & You, Yu & Lee, Junsoo, 2021. "Century-long dynamics and convergence of income inequality among the US states," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    7. Nora Lustig & Daniel Teles, 2016. "Inequality convergence: How sensitive are results to the choice of data?," Working Papers 412, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    8. Lin, Pei-Chien & Huang, Ho-Chuan (River), 2012. "Inequality convergence revisited: Evidence from stationarity panel tests with breaks and cross correlation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 316-325.
    9. Claudia Suárez‐Arbesú & Nicholas Apergis & Francisco J. Delgado, 2023. "Club convergence and factors of income inequality in the European Union," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 3654-3666, October.
    10. Kris Ivanovski & Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & John Inekwe, 2020. "Convergence in Income Inequality Across Australian States and Territories," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 127-142, February.
    11. Ho, Tsung-wu, 2015. "Income inequality may not converge after all: Testing panel unit roots in the presence of cross-section cointegration," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 68-79.

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