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Does Devolution Lead to Regional Inequalities in Welfare Activity?

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  • Joan Costa-Font

    (Department of Social Policy and the European Institute, London School of Economics, Cowdray House, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, England)

Abstract

A recurrent objection to incipient processes of welfare-state devolution is that inducing diversity in welfare activity hampers public service uniformity and opens the door to regional inequalities. However, limited empirical evidence has been reported to back this claim from experiences of welfare-state devolution. I draw upon empirical evidence of three welfare services—namely, health care, education, and long-term care in Spain, 1998–2006. I aim to explore whether devolution has shifted the patterns of regional inequalities in welfare activity, and examine the impact of regional economic development and political and fiscal devolution on the observed patterns of inequality in welfare activity. My findings indicate a reduction in regional inequalities in welfare activity after the completion of regional devolution of all three welfare services examined. This was especially noticeable in education but also occurred (less markedly) in health and long-term care. Political devolution was found to be associated with 34% of (the declining of) inequalities in health care activity, 22% of those in education, and only 4% of disparities in long-term care activity where local authorities have continued to play a heavy role, and inequalities are largely explained by regional differences in tax responsibilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Joan Costa-Font, 2010. "Does Devolution Lead to Regional Inequalities in Welfare Activity?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(3), pages 435-449, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:28:y:2010:i:3:p:435-449
    DOI: 10.1068/c09156
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Nicholas Gill, 2004. "Is There a Global Link between Regional Disparities and Devolution?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(12), pages 2097-2117, December.
    2. Joan Costa‐Font & Jordi Pons‐Novell, 2007. "Public health expenditure and spatial interactions in a decentralized national health system," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 291-306, March.
    3. Joan Costa-Font & Raphael Wittenberg & Concepció Patxot & Adelina Comas-Herrera & Cristiano Gori & Alessandra di Maio & Linda Pickard & Alessandro Pozzi & Heinz Rothgang, 2008. "Projecting Long-Term Care Expenditure in Four European Union Member States: The Influence of Demographic Scenarios," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 303-321, April.
    4. Joan Costa-Font & Ana Rico, 2006. "Devolution and the Interregional Inequalities in Health and Healthcare in Spain," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(8), pages 875-887.
    5. Olson, Mancur, Jr, 1969. "The Principle of "Fiscal Equivalence": The Division of Responsibilities among Different Levels of Government," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 479-487, May.
    6. Jonathan Morduch & Terry Sicular, 2002. "Rethinking Inequality Decomposition, With Evidence from Rural China," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(476), pages 93-106, January.
    7. Joan Costa-Font & Ana Rico, 2006. "Vertical Competition in the Spanish National Health System (NHS)," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 477-498, September.
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