Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/206838 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Citation: 
[Journal:] Public Choice [ISSN:] 1573-7101 [Volume:] 139 [Issue:] 3-4 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Berlin, New York [Year:] 2009 [Pages:] 493-507
Publisher: 
Springer, Berlin, New York
Abstract: 
We use US county level data from 1970 to 1998 to explore the relationship between economic growth and government employment at three levels: federal, state and local. Increases in federal, state and local government employments are all negatively related to economic growth. We find no evidence that government is more efficient at lower levels. While we cannot separate out the productive and redistributive services of government, we document that the county-level income distribution became slightly more unequal from 1970 to 1998. We conclude that a release of government-employed labor inputs to the private sector would be growth-enhancing.
Subjects: 
Economic Growth
Federal Government
State Government
Local Government
and County-Level Data
JEL: 
O40
O11
O18
O51
R11
H50
H70
Published Version’s DOI: 
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Accepted Manuscript (Postprint)
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.