The Geography of Non-Earned Income in the Piedmont Megapolitan Cluster

In this article we identified factors that may have contributed to spatial and temporal trends in non-earned income (NEI) within the 121-county Piedmont Megapolitan Cluster (PMC). We also assessed the impacts of the Great Recession on NEI, focusing on differences in NEI among metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties between 2007 and 2011. NEI exhibited a strong coreperiphery relationship, with core urban counties, and those with research universities, exhibiting a higher proportion of NEI from dividends, interest and rent (DIR), and a lower proportion of NEI from public transfer payments (TP). The percent of the population with a bachelor’s degree was the dominant predictor of high ratios of DIR to TP at the county level. The Great Recession resulted in a reduction in DIR and an increase in TP among most PMC counties; however metropolitan counties experienced the most significant gains in TP. En este articulo identificamos los factores que pueden haber contribuido a las tendencias espaciales y temporales en el ingreso no ganado (NEI) dentro de los 121 condados del grupo piedemonte megapolitano (PMC). Tambien evaluamos los impactos de la Gran Recesion en NEI, centrandose en las diferencias en NEI entre condados metropolitanos y no metropolitanos desde 2007 a 2011. NEI