Abstract
This paper uses the relatively strong economic growth of the South over the past 20 to 30 years as the basis for a discussion of recent developments in economic growth theory. First, three facts about the South’s rise relative to other regions are discussed. This is followed by a discussion of the two leading macroeconomic explanations of economic growth, neoclassical growth theory and endogenous growth theory, showing how endogenous growth theory’s focus on innovation as the engine of growth, and on the externalities related to innovations, might be used to explain key regional characteristics of southern economic growth, such as clustering and uneven growth. The paper concludes with some observations about how the South’s future might unfold in light of these newer growth theories and briefly discusses how the resurgence in inter-est in regional economic growth presents excellent opportunities for regional science.
Highlights
According to one longtime observer of the South, "the South heads into the 21st century with the look and feel of prosperity..." (Autry et al 1998, p 4)
The recent proliferation of studies of regional economic growth is due in large part to uncertainty about how increasing integration of international economies is likely to affect national economies
I will summarize what in my mind are a few of the key ideas in the current macroeconomic growth literature and show how these ideas may be useful to research in regional science
Summary
According to one longtime observer of the South, "the South heads into the 21st century with the look and feel of prosperity..." (Autry et al 1998, p 4). That the South can be viewed as a prosperous, growing region is, I believe, one of the great success stories of recent economic history. The natural question is, why has the South done so well relative to other regions? This is an important question for a variety of reasons. It is certainly important for Southerners because knowledge of the factors that contributed to past growth is likely to improve our ability to predict and influence future growth. The recent proliferation of studies of regional economic growth is due in large part to uncertainty about how increasing integration of international economies is likely to affect national economies. The U.S, with essentially no internal barriers to trade or to factor mobility, is seen as a laboratory for studying what is likely to happen as barriers to international cross-border flows of goods, services, and people, are reduced (Barra and Sala-i-Martin 1992)
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