Regional growth in a knowledge-based economy

Recent acceleration in the transition to a knowledge-based economy has affected regional economic performance. The author uses an interregional convergence framework to identify the changing determinants of the growth of U.S. states in the period from 1983 to 2004. Growth of population, annual average wages, and per capita real gross state product (GSP) are investigated. The analysis relies on spatial regression analysis to estimate the speed of convergence and identify significant conditional variables and their relationships with growth. Absolute and conditional GSP interstate convergence has occurred. The results show that educational attainment and patenting rates emerged as significant positive determinants of GSP and population growth after 1993. Educational attainment raises wages. Heavy dependence on primary production significantly reduces population, wage, and GSP growth. The speed of convergence in real per capita GSP across U.S. states noticeably slowed after 1993.