Department of Political Science

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Browsing Department of Political Science by Author "Berry, WD"

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    An annual cost of living index for the American states, 1960-1995
    (University of Texas Press, 2000) Berry, WD; Fording, RC; Hanson, RL; State University System of Florida; Florida State University; University of Kentucky; Indiana University System; Indiana University Bloomington; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    An enormous amount of research on state politics and policy relies on monetary variables. Such variables are affected by differences in the purchasing power of a dollar over time and across states, but a lack of information about geographic variation in the costs of goods and services has kept social scientists from taking these differences into account. We remove this obstacle by constructing an annual cost of living index for each continental American state from 1960 to 1995. The index constitutes a deflator suitable for cross-sectional, time-series, and pooled research. After establishing the reliability and validity of our index using a battery of diagnostic tests, we illustrate the importance of deflating monetary variables by examining two variables that are often used in state politics research.
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    Reassessing the "Race to the bottom" in state welfare policy
    (Blackwell, 2003) Berry, WD; Fording, RC; Hanson, RL; State University System of Florida; Florida State University; University of Kentucky; Indiana University System; Indiana University Bloomington; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    On the assumption that poor people migrate to obtain better welfare benefits, the magnet hypothesi. predicts that a state's poverty rate increases when its welfare benefit rises faster than benefits in surrounding states. The benefit competition hypothesis proposes that states lower welfare benefits to avoid attracting the poor from neighboring states. Previous investigations, which yield support for these propositions. suffer from weaknesses in model specification and methodology. We correct these deficiencies in a simultaneous equation model including a state's poverty rate and its benefit level for AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) as endogenous variables. We estimate the model using pooled annual data for the American states from 1960 to 1990 and find that a state's poverty rate does not jump significantly when its welfare payments outpace benefits in neighboring states. Further-more, there is no evidence of vigorous benefit competition among states states respond to decreases in neighboring states' welfare benefits with only small adjustments in their own.