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What Do Business Climate Indexes Teach Us About State Policy and Economic Growth?

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  • Jed Kolko
  • David Neumark
  • Marisol Cuellar Mejia

Abstract

State business climate indexes capture state policies that might affect economic growth. State rankings in these indexes vary wildly, raising questions about what the indexes measure and which policies are important for growth. Indexes focused on productivity do not predict economic growth, while indexes emphasizing taxes and costs predict growth of employment, wages, and output. Analysis of sub-indexes of the tax-and-cost-related indexes point to two policy factors associated with faster growth: less spending on welfare and transfer payments; and more uniform and simpler corporate tax structures. But factors beyond the control of policy have a stronger relationship with economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Jed Kolko & David Neumark & Marisol Cuellar Mejia, 2011. "What Do Business Climate Indexes Teach Us About State Policy and Economic Growth?," NBER Working Papers 16968, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16968
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Economically Free States see 30 Percent Faster Job Growth
      by Matt Mitchell in Neighborhood Effects on 2011-05-12 23:26:11
    2. In Praise of David Neumark
      by Adam Ozimek in Modeled Behavior on 2015-07-30 05:07:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Anderson, John E., 2012. "State Tax Rankings: What Do They and Don’t They Tell Us?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(4), pages 985-1010, December.
    3. Cameron A. Shelton & Nathan Falk, 2016. "Policy Uncertainty and Manufacturing Investment: Evidence from U.S. State Elections," CESifo Working Paper Series 5846, CESifo.
    4. Lopez, Rigoberto A. & Plesha, Nataliya & Campbell, Benjamin, 2014. "Economic Impacts of Agriculture in Eight Northeastern States," Research Reports 290064, University of Connecticut, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    5. Anita Yadavalli, 2017. "The Effect of Enterprise Zone-Related Tax Savings on Economic Development: A Generalized Propensity Score Approach," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 10, pages 83-96, November.
    6. Georgeanne M. Artz & Kevin D. Duncan & Arthur P. Hall & Peter F. Orazem, 2016. "Do State Business Climate Indicators Explain Relative Economic Growth At State Borders?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 395-419, June.
    7. Susan Feng Lu & Lauren Xiaoyuan Lu, 2017. "Do Mandatory Overtime Laws Improve Quality? Staffing Decisions and Operational Flexibility of Nursing Homes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3566-3585, November.
    8. Marcus Hagedorn & Fatih Karahan & Iourii Manovskii & Kurt Mitman, 2013. "Unemployment Benefits and Unemployment in the Great Recession: The Role of Macro Effects," NBER Working Papers 19499, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Florencia Garcia-Vicente & Daniel Garcia-Swartz & Martin Campbell-Kelly, 2017. "Information technology clusters and regional growth in America, 1970–1980," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1021-1046, April.
    10. G. Jason Jolley & Mandee Foushee Lancaster & Jiang Gao, 2015. "Tax Incentives and Business Climate," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(2), pages 180-186, May.
    11. devin michelle bunten & Stephan Weiler & Eric Thompson & Sammy Zahran, 2015. "Entrepreneurship, Information, And Growth," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 560-584, September.
    12. Jacob Bundrick & Weici Yuan, 2019. "Do Targeted Business Subsidies Improve Income and Reduce Poverty? A Synthetic Control Approach," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 33(4), pages 351-375, November.
    13. Stefan Fölster & Li Jansson & Anton Nyrenström Gidehag, 2016. "The effect of local business climate on employment," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(1), pages 2-24, April.
    14. Samantha Marie Schenck, 2021. "Assessing the Employment Effects of California’s Paid Family Leave Program," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 406-429, June.
    15. Marcus Hagedorn & Fatih Karahan & Iourii Manovskii & Kurt Mitman, 2013. "Unemployment Benefits and Unemployment in the Great Recession: The Role of Equilibrium Effects," Staff Reports 646, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    16. David Neumark & Jennifer Muz, 2016. "The “Business Climate” and Economic Inequality," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(1), pages 161-180, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity

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