est ▁building ▁completed ▁each ▁year ▁and ▁the ▁level ▁of ▁per ▁cap ita ▁G DP ▁for ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁Canada , ▁China , ▁and ▁Hong ▁Kong . ▁The ▁authors ▁find ▁that ▁the ▁two ▁series ▁are ▁co - integr ated , ▁which ▁means ▁that ▁they ▁move ▁together ▁over ▁time . ▁That ▁is ▁to ▁say , ▁the ▁tall est ▁building ▁completed ▁each ▁year ▁in ▁these ▁countries ▁does ▁not ▁system atically ▁move ▁away ▁from ▁the ▁underlying ▁income ▁of ▁the ▁country , ▁which ▁provides ▁evidence ▁that , ▁in ▁general , ▁sk ys cra per ▁height ▁is ▁not ▁fund ament ally ▁based ▁on ▁height ▁competition ▁among ▁build ers . ▁Finally , ▁the ▁vector ▁autor egr ession ▁methods ▁allow ▁the ▁authors ▁to ▁see ▁if ▁sk ys cra per ▁height ▁can ▁predict ▁changes ▁in ▁gross ▁domestic ▁product ▁( G DP ) ▁( i . e ., ▁if ▁height s ▁predict ▁re cess ions ). ▁The ▁authors ▁find ▁that ▁height ▁cannot , ▁in ▁fact , ▁be ▁used ▁to ▁predict ▁changes ▁in ▁G DP . ▁However , ▁G DP ▁can ▁be ▁used ▁to ▁predict ▁changes ▁in ▁height . ▁In ▁other ▁words , ▁the ▁study ▁finds ▁that ▁extreme ▁height ▁is ▁driven ▁by ▁rapid ▁economic ▁growth , ▁but ▁that ▁height ▁cannot ▁be ▁used ▁as ▁an ▁indicator ▁of ▁re cess ions . ▁ ▁See ▁also ▁▁ ▁History ▁of ▁the ▁tall est ▁buildings ▁in ▁the ▁world ▁ ▁List ▁of ▁tall est ▁buildings ▁and ▁structures ▁in ▁the ▁world ▁ ▁List ▁of ▁tall est ▁buildings ▁in ▁the ▁world ▁ ▁List ▁of ▁tall est ▁fre est and ing ▁structures