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Description & Citation--Study No. 1323

Bibliographic Description

ICPSR Study No.:1323
 
Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR01323
 
Title:Using Geographic Information Systems to Study Interstate Competition
 
Principal Investigator(s):William D. Berry, Florida State University
 
  Brady Baybeck, University of Missouri--St. Louis
 

Scope of Study

Summary:Scholars have proposed two distinct explanations for why policies diffuse across American states: (1) policymakers learn by observing the experiences of nearby states, and (2) states seek a competitive economic advantage over other states. The most common empirical approach for studying interstate influence is modeling an indicator of a state's policy choice as a function of its neighbors' policies, with each neighbor weighted equally. This can appropriately specify one form of learning model, but it does not adequately test for interstate competition: when a policy diffuses due to competition, states' responses to other states vary depending on the size and location of specific populations. The authors of this article illustrate with two substantive applications how geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to test for interstate competition. They find that lottery adoptions diffuse due to competition, rather than learning, but find no evidence of competition in state choices about welfare benefits. The authors' empirical approach can also be applied to competition among nations and local jurisdictions.
 
Subject Term(s):economics, geographic information systems, research models
 
Geographic Coverage:United States
 
Data Collection Notes:(1) The files submitted are (a) berry-baybeck_unpublished_supplement_part1.pdf, download this file if you want the portion of the Unpublished Supplement to Berry and Baybeck (2005) that contains a more detailed description of the GIS measurement procedure employed, (b) berry-baybeck_unpublished_supplement_part2.pdf, download this file if you want the portion of the Unpublished Supplement to Berry and Baybeck (2005) that contains the supplementary statistical output cited in the text of the article, (c) berry-baybeck_replicate_econometric_models.zip, download this file if you wish to replicate the estimation of the econometric models reported in Berry and Baybeck (2005) and the Unpublished Supplement to the article. After downloading and unzipping, open readme.pdf first, (d) berry-baybeck_create_variables.zip, Download this file if you wish to replicate the construction of the geographic variables used in the econometric models reported in Berry and Baybeck (2005) and the Unpublished Supplement to the article. After downloading and unzipping, open readme.pdf first. (2) These data are part of ICPSR's Publication-Related Archive and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigators if further information is desired.
 

Methodology

Access and Availability

Note:A list of the data formats available for this study can be found in the summary of holdings. Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.
 
Original ICPSR Release:2006-01-31
 
Dataset(s):
  • DS1: Using Geographic Information Systems to Study Interstate Competition
 

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