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The Geography of inequalities in Europe

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  • Philippe Martin

    (TEAM - Théories et Applications en Microéconomie et Macroéconomie - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This paper analyses some of the theoretical and empirical arguments that serve to legitimate regional policies in Europe. We start by reviewing the existing evidence that European integration has led to a process of convergence between countries but not between regions inside countries and suggest some mechanisms through which this can happen. Taking the example of France, we show that in the past twenty years regional divergence in production has indeed occurred. However, the geography of incomes has, during the same period, become more equal producing a "scissors effect" between the geographies of production and income. This suggests that transfers, which have nothing to do with regional policies, have, at least in France, more than compensated the increase in production inequality. Hence, "regional convergence" is not a synonym of "regional cohesion" at least at the national level. We then review evidence on a possible trade-off between growth and regional inequalities to suggest that efficiency motives can not easily be used to defend regional policies. Both evidence and theory suggest that regional concentration leads to efficiency gains. This also implies that the EU is faced with a choice it has tried to avoid until now. Either, it puts its effort in slowing or even reversing the process of spatial economic concentration at the national level or it concentrates on policies to speed up the convergence process between poor and rich countries. Finally, we analyse the relation between spatial and social inequalities. We report empirical evidence for Europe that suggests a strong empirical relation between the two: even after controlling for transfers and other possible determinants of individual inequalities, we find that countries with more regional inequalities are also those with more individual inequalities

Suggested Citation

  • Philippe Martin, 2005. "The Geography of inequalities in Europe," Post-Print hal-00265656, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00265656
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesca Parente, 2019. "A Multidimensional Analysis of the EU Regional Inequalities," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1017-1044, June.
    2. Böckerman, Petri & Maliranta, Mika, 2006. "The Micro-level Dynamics of Regional Productivity Growth: The Source of Divergence in Finland Revised," Discussion Papers 1038, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    3. Naiquan Liu & Xinyue Ye & Huimin Yang & Ying Li & Mark Leipnik, 2014. "Manufacturing firm heterogeneity and regional economic growth difference in China," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 213-230, June.
    4. Jean-François Carpantier & Christelle Sapata, 2013. "An Ex-Post View of Inequality of Opportunity in France and its Regions," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 281-311, September.
    5. Bockerman, Petri & Maliranta, Mika, 2007. "The micro-level dynamics of regional productivity growth: The source of divergence in Finland," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 165-182, March.
    6. Zaborowski Tomasz, 2020. "Factors of Divergence between Peripheral and Central Subregions: The Case of Mazovia Province, Poland," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 39(4), pages 39-51, December.
    7. Jean-François Carpantier & Christelle Sapata, 2012. "Unfair inequalities in France: A regional comparison," Working Papers hal-01821150, HAL.
    8. Michael Storper, 2010. "Agglomeration, Trade, And Spatial Development: Bringing Dynamics Back In," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 313-342, February.
    9. Ron Martin, 2008. "National growth versus spatial equality? A cautionary note on the new ‘trade-off’ thinking in regional policy discourse," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 3-13, November.
    10. Marc Brunetto & Nadine Levratto, 2017. "Analysis of the job creation process in metropolitan areas: A spatial perspective," Working Papers hal-04141632, HAL.
    11. Kelber, A., 2010. "Cohesion policy and the new Member States of the European Union," Quarterly selection of articles - Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 19, pages 77-95, Autumn.
    12. Nazarczuk Jarosław M., 2015. "Regional distance: the concept and empirical evidence from Poland," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 28(28), pages 129-141, June.
    13. Roman Römisch, 2020. "Estimating Demand Spillovers of EU Cohesion Policy Using European Regional Input-Output Tables," wiiw Working Papers 184, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    14. Matlovič René & Klamár Radoslav & Kozoň Ján & Ivanová Monika & Michalko Miloslav, 2018. "Spatial polarity and spatial polarization in the context of supranational and national scales: regions of Visegrad countries after their accession to the EU," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 41(41), pages 59-78, September.
    15. Marc Brunetto & Nadine Levratto, 2017. "Analysis of the job creation process in metropolitan areas: A spatial perspective," EconomiX Working Papers 2017-36, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    16. Longhi, C. & Musolesi, A. & Baumont, C., 2013. "Modeling the industrial dynamics of the European metropolitan areas during the process of economic integration: a semiparametric approach," Working Papers 2013-10, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    regional inequalities and regional subsidies; Economic geography; regional inequalities and regional subsidies.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • R0 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General

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