State Patterns in Family Income Inequality

Abstract

It is well known that U.S. income inequality began to increase in the 1970s and increased sharply in the 1980s. Yet, what is less well known is that this upward trend was not uniform across states. Some states experienced almost no increase in family income inequality, while other states experienced dramatic increases. We use the variation in state trends to examine factors that may underlie shifts in U.S. income inequality. Among numerous factors, we include variables that allow us to examine the role that state and local economic development policy may play. Also, in examining state income inequality differences that could not be explained by economic factors, we explore the possibility that cultural and social norm factors affect state income inequality. Copyright 1998 Western Economic Association International.

Estimates of Income and Income Inequality in the United States and in Each of the Fifty States: 1988–1999

“…Although inequality rose almost everywhere between 1988 and 1999, some states and regions experienced substantially greater increases in inequality than did others. This finding of wide variation in the change in inequality at the state level is consistent with the findings of other recent studies (Partridge, Rickman, and Levernier, 1996;Partridge, Partridge, and Rickman, 1998;Morrill, 2000).…”

Reexamining the Evidence of an Ecological Association between Income Inequality and Health

“…For example, the increase in income inequality in the U.S. from 1980 to 1990 has been 3 attributed to changes in manufacturing employment, international migration and the increase in households headed by single females (Husted 1991, Levernier, et al 1995, Partridge, et al 1998and Bernard and Jensen 1998. 2 demonstrates that the evidence of an association between inequality and health is more limited and mixed than is typically acknowledged.…”

“…Our task is further simplified by the fact that previous cross-sectional state-level results do not appear sensitive to the particular measure of income inequality. We employ the Gini coefficient for household income, which is taken from Partridge, et al (1998) and Al-Samarrie and Miller (1967).…”

Income inequality and social institutions: beyond the Kuznets curve and economic determinism

“…Moreover, recent studies (Nielsen and Alderson 1997;Partridge 1998;Ram 1997) show that the evidence from the United States after WW II, especially since the 1980s, is not consistent with the Kuznets hypothesis.…”