Inégalités régionales et développement économique : le cas français (1850-2000)

Since the seminal work of WILLIAMSON (1965), suggesting that inter-regional income disparities successively increase and decrease during the development process, several empirical studies have shown that the concentration level in the central region tends to raise during the economic take-off and the industrialisation stage, and later decreases after reaching a per capita income of about $ 5000 (of 1985). We propose an original analysis of the French case, showing how regional disparities have accompanied economic development since the mid XIXth century. The concentration stage seems to have developed markedly until the 1950's (when France reached a per capita income of $ 5000), but this scheme can't be reduced to a simple center/periphery pattern. Its most striking feature is a double inter-regional inequality movement: indeed, there is an asymmetric evolution between the Paris region and the provinces on the one hand, and between the East and the West of France on the other. The reduction of regional inequalities that occured in the latter part of the XXth century seems to be much complex than some empirical studies have suggested.