Metropolitan/non metropolitan divergence: A spatial Markov chain approach**I would like to thank the editor and three anonymous referees for constructive and thorough comments. Any remaining errors are my own. This research was partially supported by a West Virginia University Faculty Senate Travel Grant and travel funds provided by the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 49th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, November 2002, in San Juan, Puerto Rico

This article examines spatial aspects of distributional dynamics and finds that the distribution of US metropolitan incomes relative to their neighbours has diverged during the 1969–1999 period. Use of a spatial Markov approach shows that non metropolitan neighbours of metropolitan regions have tended to converge during the period, with roughly equal rates of upward and downward mobility within the distribution. Non metropolitan regions, not neighbouring metropolitan regions, show much less tendency to converge and reveal higher rates of downward rather than upward mobility. Results highlight regional differences in mobility coherence, with metropolitan areas in the West tending to outpace their non metropolitan neighbours.