This paper assesses the long-run effect of growth volatility on income inequality using a comprehensive panel of annual U.S. state-level data during the 1945 to 2004 period.Using the pooled mean group (PMG) estimator, we find overwhelming evidence supporting the hypothesis that larger growth volatility positively and significantly associates with higher income inequality. In addition, our key finding is robust to alternative lag structures, conditioning variables, inequality measures, volatility indicators, and time periods.
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