The aim of this thesis is to describe the presence of theories for economic growth in municipalities’ economic growth strategies, and to compare the municipalities’ of Detroit and Trollhättan. Municipalities formulate goals and policies in order to achieve different outcomes that will impact residents, cities, and the economy. Three different theories for economic growth are operationalized into an analytical framework and applied, in combination with interpretative policy analysis, on the economic growth policies and goals of the municipality of Detroit and the municipality of Trollhättan. The results show that elements all three economic growth theories are present in both municipalities’ approaches to achieve economic growth. It also shows that there are different combinations of economic growth theory elements present in the goals and policies. It is also demonstrated that both municipalities’ emphasize population growth, art and culture, and a high provision of amenities in the approaches’ to achieve economic growth.

This dissertation is comprised of three studies which examine, among other issues, racial economic disparity. The first study examines racial and gender wage gaps and considers preferences among supervisors and workers as possible sources of wage differentials. After controlling for various wage determinants, I find little statistical evidence of a racial wage gap. However, I do find evidence of a significant gender wage gap. Also, the race of an individual‟s supervisor is found to be unimportant, but workers with male supervisors are found to earn significantly higher wages than workers with female supervisors. The results reveal little evidence of employee discrimination. However, it is found that both white and male workers receive a wage premium when working for a white male supervisor. I find these results to be strongest for, and possibly driven by, small firms in the South. The second study examines the factors that Bowl Championship Series (BCS) universities use in their decision to offer athletic scholarships to high school football players. I find that a player‟s physical characteristics are important in determining the number of scholarship offers he will receive as well as his athletic performance in high school. However, a player‟s high school grade point average is not a significant determinant of the number of scholarship offers he receives. The analysis also indicates a significantly higher labor market demand for African-American high school football players, and there is also evidence of racial position segregation as well. The third study analyzes the relationship between the racial makeup of counties and economic growth and convergence in the southern U.S. The results provide strong evidence that spatial dependence is present in the data, and it is determined that the spatial lag model is appropriate for modeling the data. Significant evidence of conditional beta-convergence among the counties in the sample is found. The results also reveal that the balanced growth paths of counties are inversely related with the percentage of the county population that is African-American. That is, counties with a higher concentration of African-Americans tend to exhibit relatively slow rates of income growth.

Fundação de Apoio a Pesquisa e à Inovação Tecnológica do Estado de Sergipe - FAPITEC/SE / The aim of this study was to identify the influence of investment in human capital and public and private fixed capital in the economic growth of cities in the state of Sergipe, in the period 2006-2011. To do so, based on endogenous growth perspective, was constructed variables for the analysis of the determinants of growth. Under the application of econometric methodology of panel data, the sample was divided into two, analyzing larger municipalities and under 25 thousand inhabitants. The results show that the greater sensitivity to investments in smaller municipalities, while for larger municipalities, stood out private investment, the investment of municipal power and the level of local education as determinants of economic growth. The model explanatory power presented itself similar to that found in the related literature, despite including innovative measures such as the standardization of data and the use of the Investment FIRJAN index (IFGF). / O objetivo desse trabalho foi identificar a influência dos investimentos em capital humano e capital físico público e privado no crescimento econômico dos municípios do estado de Sergipe, no período 2006-2011. Para isso, fundamentado na perspectiva endógena do crescimento, construiu-se variáveis para a análise dos fatores determinantes do crescimento. Sob a aplicação da metodologia econométrica de dados em painel, a amostra foi dividida em duas, analisando municípios maiores e menores de 25 mil habitantes. Os resultados demonstram que as uma sensibilidade maior aos investimentos realizados em municípios menores, enquanto, para municípios maiores, destacaram-se o investimento privado, o investimento do poder municipal e o nível de escolaridade local como determinantes do crescimento econômico. O poder de explicação do modelo apresentou-se semelhante ao encontrado na literatura correlata, apesar de incluir medidas inovadoras como a padronização dos dados e a utilização do índice Firjan de Investimento (IFGF).