Full Citation
Title: The Dynamics of Population Change and Income Inequality in Rural America
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2020
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DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/g3yhe
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Abstract: This paper examines the effects of population growth and decline on county-level income inequality in the United States from 1980 to 2016. Findings from previous research have shown that income inequality is positively associated with population change, but these studies have not explicitly tested for differences between the impacts of population growth and decline. Understanding the implications of population dynamics is particularly important given that many rural areas are characterized by population decline. We analyze county-level data (n=15,375 county-decades) from the Decennial Census and American Community Survey (ACS), applying fixed effects models to estimate the respective effects of population growth and decline on income inequality, to identify the processes that mediate the links between population change and inequality, and to assess whether these effects are moderated by county-level economic and demographic characteristics. We find evidence that population decline is associated with increased levels of income inequality relative to counties experiencing stable and high rates of population growth. This relationship remains robust across a variety of model specifications, including models that account for changes in counties’ employment, sociodemographic, and ethnoracial composition. We also find that the relationship between income inequality and population change varies by metropolitan status, baseline level of inequality, and region.
Url: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/g3yhe/
Url: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8570540/
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Authors: Butler, Jaclyn; Wildermuth, Grace; Thiede, Brian; Brown, David, L
Series Title: SocArXiv
Publication Number: g3yhe_v1
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Pages: 1-40
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Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Population Mobility and Spatial Demography, Poverty and Welfare
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