Determinants of the State Per-Capita Income Growth, 1950-87

摘要

The study looks for the causes of state and regional per capita income changesduring 1950-87. Incomes converged on the national average during the period primarily because income grew rapidly in the low income region, the South. The most fundamental cause of southern income growth was the collapse of a unique southern institution: the sharecropper-tenant farmer system. A related development was the migration of millions of black sharecroppers from the South to the North-a region transfer of poverty. These developments were behind the four most influential forces causing income change: (1) farm-to-urban population shifts, (2) gains in educational attainment, (3) increases in per-capita employment, and (4) changes in racial mix. Other causes were studied.