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Lawyers and Economic Growth

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) James Koch, Old Dominion University

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified

Project Citation: 

Koch, James . Lawyers and Economic Growth. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-08-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/E193487V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Whether the activities of lawyers might hamper economic growth has been hotly contested over the past three decades.  Contradictory conclusions have flowed from evidence that typically has focused on the impact of lawyers on the growth rates of countries.  Disputes over definitions and samples that vary among countries have colored portions of these debates. We surmount many of these issues by adopting a 50-state panel covering the period 2005-2018 for the United States and by utilizing widely accepted variables regarding economic activity and who is considered a lawyer.  Further, we utilize two distinct measures of the activity of lawyers and find that an increased presence of lawyers reduces per capita real economic growth. Separately, we also find that an increased presence of lawyers reduces the level of per capita real income.  

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms lawyers economic growth
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/1/2005 – 12/31/2018 (Jan 2005 to Dec 2018)
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 1/1/2019 – 12/31/2020 (Jan 2019 to Dec 2020)

Methodology

Response Rate:  View help for Response Rate All 50 U.S. states; 100%
Sampling:  View help for Sampling No sampling; all 50 states
Data Source:  View help for Data Source
American Bar Association; IPEDS; FRED
Collection Mode(s):  View help for Collection Mode(s) other
Scales:  View help for Scales None
Weights:  View help for Weights None
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation 50 U.S. states
Geographic Unit:  View help for Geographic Unit 50 U.S. states

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Published Versions

V2 [2023-08-24]

V1 [2023-08-23]

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