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Geographies of Socio-Economic Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • van Ham, Maarten

    (Delft University of Technology)

  • Manley, David

    (University of Bristol)

  • Tammaru, Tiit

    (University of Tartu)

Abstract

Over many decades, academics, policymakers and governments have been concerned with both the presence of inequalities and the impacts these can have on people when concentrated spatially in urban areas. This concern is especially related to the influence of spatial inequalities on individual outcomes in terms of health, education, work and income, and general well-being amongst other outcomes. In this commentary, we provide an overview of the literature on spatial inequalities and on contextual and neighbourhood effects. We address some of the main challenges in modelling contextual effects and provide evidence that no single study can definitively provide the answer to the question whether – and how much – spatial context effects are relevant for understanding individual outcomes. It is only when taken together that the rich body of research on spatial context effects shows convincingly that spatial context effects are relevant. The commentary ends with the presentation of the vicious circle of the segregation model and suggest some ways in which this vicious circle of spatial inequality and segregation can be broken.

Suggested Citation

  • van Ham, Maarten & Manley, David & Tammaru, Tiit, 2022. "Geographies of Socio-Economic Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 15153, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15153
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp15153.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tiit Tammaru & David Knapp & Siiri Silm & Maarten van Ham & Frank Witlox, 2021. "Spatial Underpinnings of Social Inequalities: A Vicious Circles of Segregation Approach," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 65-76.
    2. Facundo Alvaredo & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Lucas Chancel & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "World Inequality Report 2018," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01885458, HAL.
    3. Jennifer Darrah & Stefanie DeLuca, 2014. "“Living Here has Changed My Whole Perspective”: How Escaping Inner‐City Poverty Shapes Neighborhood and Housing Choice," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 350-384, March.
    4. Lina Hedman & David Manley & Maarten van Ham, 2019. "Using sibling data to explore the impact of neighbourhood histories and childhood family context on income from work," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-21, May.
    5. Fenne M. Pinkster, 2014. "Neighbourhood Effects as Indirect Effects: Evidence from a Dutch Case Study on the Significance of Neighbourhood for Employment Trajectories," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 2042-2059, November.
    6. David Manley & Maarten van Ham & Lina Hedman, 2020. "Inherited and Spatial Disadvantages: A Longitudinal Study of Early Adult Neighborhood Careers of Siblings," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 110(6), pages 1670-1689, November.
    7. repec:mpr:mprres:5599 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Jaap Nieuwenhuis & Tiit Tammaru & Maarten van Ham & Lina Hedman & David Manley, 2020. "Does segregation reduce socio-spatial mobility? Evidence from four European countries with different inequality and segregation contexts," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(1), pages 176-197, January.
    9. Meng Le Zhang & Gwilym Pryce, 2020. "The dynamics of poverty, employment and access to amenities in polycentric cities: Measuring the decentralisation of poverty and its impacts in England and Wales," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(10), pages 2015-2030, August.
    10. Jeremy Pais, 2017. "Intergenerational Neighborhood Attainment and the Legacy of Racial Residential Segregation: A Causal Mediation Analysis," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(4), pages 1221-1250, August.
    11. George Galster & Anna Maria Santiago, 2017. "Do Neighborhood Effects on Low-Income Minority Children Depend on Their Age? Evidence From a Public Housing Natural Experiment," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 584-610, July.
    12. Tran Quang Van, 2012. "Poverty Dynamics: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," Working Papers 09, Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), Vietnam.
    13. de Vuijst, Elise & van Ham, Maarten & Kleinhans, Reinout, 2016. "A Life Course Approach to Understanding Neighbourhood Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 10276, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Elise de Vuijst & Maarten van Ham & Reinout Kleinhans, 2017. "The moderating effect of higher education on the intergenerational transmission of residing in poverty neighbourhoods," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(9), pages 2135-2154, September.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    spatial inequality; segregation; neighbourhood effects; spatial context effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • P46 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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