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Full-Text Articles in Economics
Missouri's Economic Future Lies With School Reform, Eric A. Hanushek
Missouri's Economic Future Lies With School Reform, Eric A. Hanushek
Center for Applied Economics
Between 1970 and 2007, Missouri’s growth in income per capita was 41st in the nation. This dismal outcome is largely a function of its educational system. Its schools have not been competitive, either among the U.S. states or internationally. Lifting the quality of schools will by the historical evidence presented here produce large long-run gains for Missouri’s economy. Even though many youth have in the past migrated to other parts of the country, the strength of the Missouri economy will continue to rest mainly on those current students who will become the backbone of the future labor force. Improving the …
Labor Market Freedom And Economic Prosperity: How Does Missouri Compare?, Dean Stansel
Labor Market Freedom And Economic Prosperity: How Does Missouri Compare?, Dean Stansel
Center for Applied Economics
Government restrictions on workers and employers tend to have a dampening effect on their ability to thrive. There have been numerous studies of the relationship between state labor market restrictions and labor market outcomes (as well as economic outcomes in general). As theory would imply, that literature generally has found a positive relationship between labor market freedom and various measures of positive economic outcomes. After a discussion of the concept of economic freedom and how it is measured in labor markets, this paper briefly reviews that literature. It also provides a detailed examination of how Missouri compares to its neighboring …
The State Of The Missouri Economy And Workforce, Timothy J. Gronberg, Dennis W. Jansen, Lori L. Taylor
The State Of The Missouri Economy And Workforce, Timothy J. Gronberg, Dennis W. Jansen, Lori L. Taylor
Center for Applied Economics
This article presents an overview of the state of the Missouri economy. We begin by assessing measures of economic output. Compared to the nation and to neighboring states, Missouri’s economy has hardly grown over the past 20 years. We identify several sources for this lackluster record. Perhaps one of the most important is the observation is that productivity in Missouri—output per worker—is lower than the national average. This poor productivity record quite possibly stems from two sources. One is problematic trends in labor force quality. A key factor here is a lack of commitment by the state to a higher …
Is Growth In Outstate Missouri Tied To Growth In The Saint Louis And Kansas City Metro Areas?, Howard J. Wall
Is Growth In Outstate Missouri Tied To Growth In The Saint Louis And Kansas City Metro Areas?, Howard J. Wall
Center for Applied Economics
Because the Saint Louis and Kansas City metro areas together account for well over half of Missouri’s economy, the overall performance of the state is largely determined by the two metro areas. In this study, I see whether the metro areaas are important to the state beyond their relative sizes. That is, I test whether employment growth in the rest of Missouri tends to follow (or be caused by) employment growth in the metro areas.