CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE OF REGIONAL INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS AND WELFARE

Regional income distributions are analyzed and tested for convergence and divergence in the 1970s. The methodology is the same as that recently used to show the almost complete convergence of the South and Non-South. This paper disaggregates the Non-South into major regions consisting of the West, Midwest and Northeast. Tests for rank dominance reveal surprising results. Income distributions in the major regions of the Non-South were equivalent in 1969, and the South was uniformly dominated. Fundamental changes in the 1970s resulted in the West rank dominating the Midwest, which dominated the South, which in turn dominated the Northeast.