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Half a world : regional inequality in five great federations

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  • Milanovic, Branko

Abstract

Thepaper studies regional (spatial) inequality in the five most populous countries in the world: China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil in the period 1980-2000. They are all federations or quasi-federations composed of entities with substantial economic autonomy. Two types of regional inequalities are considered: Concept 1 inequality, which is inequality between mean incomes (GDP per capita) of states/provinces, and Concept 2 inequality, which is inequality between population-weighted regional mean incomes. The first inequality speaks to the issue of regional convergence, the second, to the issue of overall inequality as perceived by citizens within a nation. All three Asian countries show rising inequality in terms of both concepts in the 1990s. Divergence in income outcomes is particularly noticeable for the most populous states/provinces in China and India. The United States, where regional inequality is the least, shows further convergence. Brazil, with the highest level of regional inequality, displays no trend. A regression analysis fails to establish robust association between the usual macroeconomic variables and the two types of regional inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Milanovic, Branko, 2005. "Half a world : regional inequality in five great federations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3699, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3699
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    Cited by:

    1. Nissanke, Machiko & Thorbecke, Erik, 2006. "Channels and policy debate in the globalization-inequality-poverty nexus," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1338-1360, August.
    2. Ezcurra, Roberto & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2013. "Does Economic Globalization affect Regional Inequality? A Cross-country Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 92-103.
    3. Naranpanawa, Athula & Arora, Rashmi, 2014. "Does Trade Liberalization Promote Regional Disparities? Evidence from a Multiregional CGE Model of India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 339-349.
    4. Breinlich, Holger & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2014. "Regional Growth and Regional Decline," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 4, pages 683-779, Elsevier.
    5. Raul M. Silveira-Neto & Carlos R. Azzoni, 2012. "Social Policy As Regional Policy: Market And Nonmarket Factors Determining Regional Inequality," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 433-450, August.
    6. Facchini, Giovanni & Testa, Cecilia, 2008. "Fiscal decentralization, regional inequality and bail-outs: Lessons from Brazil's debt crisis," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 333-344, May.
    7. repec:dau:papers:123456789/284 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Ashwini Deshpande, 2007. "Overlapping Identities under Liberalization: Gender and Caste in India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(4), pages 735-760, July.
    9. Lu, Jiangyong & Liu, Xiaohui & Filatotchev, Igor & Wright, Mike, 2014. "The impact of domestic diversification and top management teams on the international diversification of Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 455-467.
    10. Tan, Yan & Uprasen, Utai, 2023. "Asymmetric effects of oil price shocks on income inequality in ASEAN countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Governance Indicators; Poverty Impact Evaluation; Rural Poverty Reduction; Services&Transfers to Poor;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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