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The regional development trap in Europe

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  • Diemer, Andreas
  • Iammarino, Simona
  • Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés
  • Storper, Michael

Abstract

The concept of regional development trap refers to regions that face significant structural challenges in retrieving past dynamism or improving prosperity for their residents. This article introduces and measures the concept of the regional development trap for regions in Europe. The concept draws inspiration from the middle-income trap in international development theory but widens it to shed light on traps in higher-income countries and at the regional scale. We propose indicators—involving the economic, productivity, and employment performance of regions relative to themselves in the immediate past, and to other regions in their respective countries and elsewhere in Europe—to identify regions either in a development trap or at significant near-term risk of falling into it. Regions facing development traps generate economic, social, and political risks at the national scale but also for Europe as a whole.

Suggested Citation

  • Diemer, Andreas & Iammarino, Simona & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Storper, Michael, 2022. "The regional development trap in Europe," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115149, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:115149
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/115149/
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    Cited by:

    1. Andres Rodriguez-Pose & Lewis Dijkstra & Hugo Poelman, 2024. "The geography of EU discontent and the regional development trap," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2405, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Mar 2024.
    2. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Javier Terrero-Dávila & Neil Lee, 2023. "Left-behind versus unequal places: interpersonal inequality, economic decline and the rise of populism in the USA and Europe," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(5), pages 951-977.
    3. Camilla Mastromarco & Laura Serlenga & Yongcheol Shin, 2023. "Regional Productivity Network in the EU," CESifo Working Paper Series 10404, CESifo.
    4. González Laxe, Fernando & Armesto Pina, José Francisco & Sanchez-Fernandez, Patricio, 2023. "Galicia y las trampas del Desarrollo [Galicia and the "Development traps"]," MPRA Paper 116165, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Jan 2023.
    5. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Bartalucci, Federico, 2023. "Regional vulnerability to the green transition," Single Market Economics Papers WP2023/16, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (European Commission), Chief Economist Team.
    6. Samovoleva, Svetlana, 2023. "Окна Возможностей И Ловушки При Переходе К Собственным Инновациям [Transition toward own innovation: the windows of opportunity and traps]," MPRA Paper 119314, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Di Matteo, Dante & Cardinale, Bernardo, 2023. "Impact of high-speed rail on income inequalities in Italy," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    8. Ariel L. Wirkierman & Tommaso Ciarli & Maria Savona, 2023. "A taxonomy of European innovation clubs," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 1-34, April.
    9. Kemeny, Tom & Storper, Michael, 2022. "The changing shape of spatial inequality in the United States," SocArXiv wnd8t, Center for Open Science.
    10. Andres Rodriguez-Pose & Javier Terrero-Davila & Neil Lee, 2023. "Left-behind vs. unequal places: interpersonal inequality, economic decline, and the rise of populism in the US and Europe," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2306, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Mar 2023.
    11. Henry Wai-chung, 2023. "From Regional to Global and Back Again? A Future Agenda for Regional Evolution and (De)Globalized Production Networks in Regional Studies," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2312, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2023.
    12. Gartzou-Katsouyanni, Kira, 2023. "Obstacles to local cooperation in fragmented, left-behind economies: an integrated framework," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120795, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Mitze, Timo & Breidenbach, Philipp, 2023. "The complex regional effects of macro-institutional shocks: Evidence from EU economic integration over three decades," Ruhr Economic Papers 1007, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Bartalucci, Federico, 2023. "The green transition and its potential territorial discontents," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120536, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Sebastiano Cattaruzzo & Giancarlo Corò, 2023. "Understanding Erasmus mobility in European regions: a quantile-based approach," Working Papers 2023: 25, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    16. Alicia Gómez-Tello & María-José Murgui-García & María-Teresa Sanchis-Llopis, 2023. "Agglomeration and human capital: an extended spatial Mankiw-Romer-Weil model for European regions," Working Papers 2023.11, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    development trap; middle-income; economic growth; employment; productivity; regions; Europe; 0000-0002-5193-7739; 0000-0002-8354-792X and 2018CE16BAT055; T&F deal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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