Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/113743 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5411
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Although many U.S. state policies presume that human capital is important for state economic development, there is little research linking better education to state incomes. In a complement to international studies of income differences, we investigate the extent to which quality-adjusted measures of human capital can explain within-country income differences. We develop detailed measures of state human capital based on school attainment from census micro data and on cognitive skills from state- and country-of-origin achievement tests. Partitioning current state workforces into state locals, interstate migrants, and immigrants, we adjust achievement scores for selective migration. We use the new human capital measures in development accounting analyses calibrated with standard production parameters. We find that differences in human capital account for 20-35 percent of the current variation in per-capita GDP among states, with roughly even contributions by school attainment and cognitive skills. Similar results emerge from growth accounting analyses.
Subjects: 
economic growth
human capital
cognitive skills
schooling
U.S. states
JEL: 
I25
O47
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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