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This paper explores the relationship between household income inequality and macroeconomic uncertainty in the United States. Using a novel large-scale macroeconometric model, we shed light on regional disparities of inequality responses to a national uncertainty shock. The results suggest that income inequality decreases in most states, with a pronounced degree of heterogeneity in terms of the dynamic responses. By contrast, some few states, mostly located in the Midwest, display increasing levels of income inequality over time. Forecast error variance and historical decompositions highlight the importance of uncertainty shocks in explaining income inequality in most regions considered. Finally, we explain differences in the responses of income inequality by means of a simple regression analysis. These regressions reveal that the income composition as well as labor market fundamentals determine the directional pattern of the dynamic responses. / Series: Working Papers in Regional Science

This dissertation combines theories of nationalism and discourse analysis modeled on Benedict Anderson and Homi Bhabha with Kenneth Burke's dramatism to demonstrate that political states are constituted as meaningful, exclusionary communities through legislative discourses, literary representations, and practices of historiography. Although a number of scholars have acknowledged the importance of state identifications in the complex of cultural and symbolic nationalism, there has been limited examination of the composition of what I call "statist"-- as related to but distinct from "nationalist"-- identities in their own right. Using Wyoming as a case study, this project examines the unique and deeply significant affiliations formed within individual states in the United States of America. Wyoming provides an interesting lens for this discussion for several reasons. First, Wyoming's attainment of statehood in 1890 marks an important figurative closing of the frontier acknowledged in the census of that year and remarked upon as significant among many scholars of Western history. This coincidence of timing also places Wyoming's territorial period and attempts to articulate the state as an independent cultural and political entity during the period of colonialism. Many scholars, including Benedict Anderson and Homi Bhabha as well as Ernest Gellner and Eric Hobsbawm, consider this the period during which modern nationalism flowered. Finally, Wyoming presents a useful template for this analysis precisely because of its unremarkableness in legislative terms; the language of its constitution draws heavily on the models provided by earlier states as well as the US Constitution and is quite similar in this respect to many that followed. Although the symbols and narratives that circumscribe the Wyoming imaginary are unique, the process by which they are constituted is not and could be observed in some form in any state in the Union.

In this paper, we explore the relationship between state-level household income inequality and macroeconomic uncertainty in the United States. Using a novel large-scale macroeconometric model, we shed light on regional disparities of inequality responses to a national uncertainty shock. The results suggest that income inequality decreases in most states, with a pronounced degree of heterogeneity in terms of shapes and magnitudes of the dynamic responses. By contrast, some few states, mostly located in the West and South census region, display increasing levels of income inequality over time. We find that this directional pattern in responses is mainly driven by the income composition and labor market fundamentals. In addition, forecast error variance decompositions allow for a quantitative assessment of the importance of uncertainty shocks in explaining income inequality. The findings highlight that volatility shocks account for a considerable fraction of forecast error variance for most states considered. Finally, a regression-based analysis sheds light on the driving forces behind differences in state-specific inequality responses. / Series: Working Papers in Regional Science

Studien undersöker politiska partiers inverkan på miljöförbättringar i USA. Vi undersöker även om ökad polarisering mellan republikaner och demokrater har gett upphov till större skillnader i miljöinvesteringar över tid. Med hjälp av paneldata och fixa effekter för amerikanska delstater mellan åren 2009 - 2022 analyserar vi de genomsnittliga miljöinvesteringarna per invånare beroende på det styrande partiet i den lagstiftande församlingen. Resultatet påvisar inga signifikanta effekter om att storleken på miljöinvesteringar skiljer sig mellan partierna vilket ger stöd åt förväntningarna om medianväljarteoremet. När vi undersöker skillnaderna i miljöinvesteringar mellan partierna över två perioder observeras signifikanta effekter. Resultatet tyder på att delstater med demokratiskt styre i den lagstiftande församlingen investerar 9 $ mer per invånare på miljöförbättringar under den andra perioden än delstater med republikanskt eller delat styre. Det är däremot inte möjligt att fastställa om den ökade skillnaden i miljöinvesteringarna mellan partierna över tid är till följd av en ökad polarisering. / This study investigates the impact of political parties on environmental improvements in the United States. We also investigate whether increased polarization between Republicans and Democrats has led to greater differences in environmental investments over time. Using panel data on US states for the period 2009 - 2022 and including fixed effects, we analyze the average per capita environmental investments based on the ruling party in the legislature. The findings indicate no significant effect that the size of environmental investments differ between the political parties  which supports the expectations of the median voter theorem. When examining the differences in environmental investments between the parties across two periods significant effects are observed. The result suggests that states with Democratic rule in the legislature invest $ 9 more per capita on environmental improvements in the second period than Republican or divided states. However, it is not possible to determine whether the increased difference in environmental investments between the parties over time is the result of increased polarization.

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