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Mapping Regional Personal Income Distribution in Western Europe: Income Per Capita and Inequality

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Abstract

Past studies of regional economic disparities in the EU are fundamentally based on the information provided by macroeconomic variables. This paper considers regional disparities using microeconomic data aggregated at the regional level, paying attention not only to the average, but also to the inequality levels of individual incomes within regions. It maps regional personal income distribution in Western Europe, using data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) data survey covering more than 100,000 individuals, for 102 regions, and over the period 1995–2000. The Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis on income per capita and inequality reveals a rich set of findings. (1) There is a strong U-shaped relationship between income per capita and inequality which is highly robust across inequality measurements. (2) 80 percent of the income inequality in Europe takes place among individuals living in the same region. (3) Regions with similar income conditions tend to cluster, not only within national borders, but also across nations. (4) There is a North-South and an urban-rural divide where northern regions and city-regions have the highest economic development, as well as the lowest levels of inequality.

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  • Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Vassilis Tselios, 2009. "Mapping Regional Personal Income Distribution in Western Europe: Income Per Capita and Inequality," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 59(1), pages 41-70, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:fau:fauart:v:59:y:2009:i:1:p:41-70
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    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. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Vassilis Tselios, 2015. "Toward Inclusive Growth," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 38(1), pages 30-60, January.
    3. Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose & Vassilis Tselios, 2009. "Education And Income Inequality In The Regions Of The European Union," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 411-437, August.
    4. Riccardo Pozzi & Rosalba Rombaldoni & Edgar J.Sanchez Carrera, 2018. "Inequalities, spatial disparities and agglomeration of economic activity in European regions," Working Papers 1805, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2018.
    5. Wenze Yue & Yuntang Zhang & Xinyue Ye & Yeqing Cheng & Mark R. Leipnik, 2014. "Dynamics of Multi-Scale Intra-Provincial Regional Inequality in Zhejiang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Betsy Donald & Mia Gray & Centre for Business Research, 2018. "The Double Crisis: In What Sense A Regional Problem?," Working Papers wp507, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    7. Neil Lee & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "Innovation and spatial inequality in Europe and USA," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, January.
    8. Emmanouil Tranos & Peter Nijkamp, 2014. "Digital infrastructure and physical proximity," Chapters, in: André Torre & Frédéric Wallet (ed.), Regional Development and Proximity Relations, chapter 8, pages 267-290, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. KYDROS Dimitrios & FILENTA Pagona, 2022. "Literature Review of Economic and Regional Development through Quantitative Methods and Social Network Analysis," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Bucharest Economic Academy, issue 01, March.
    10. Jyotirmayee Kar, 2012. "Income Inequality in Some Major European Union Economies a Discriminant Analysis," Annals of the University of Petrosani, Economics, University of Petrosani, Romania, vol. 12(4), pages 117-128.
    11. Mallela, Keerti & Singh, Sunny Kumar & Srivastava, Archana, 2023. "Remittances, financial development, and income inequality: A panel quantile regression approach," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 171-186.
    12. Bittencourt, Manoel & Chang, Shinhye & Gupta, Rangan & Miller, Stephen M., 2019. "Does financial development affect income inequality in the U.S. States?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1043-1056.
    13. Kaja Bonesmo Fredriksen, 2012. "Income Inequality in the European Union," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 952, OECD Publishing.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    income inequality; regions; Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis; Europe; urbanization; EU North-South divide;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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