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Mapping the European regional educational distribution: Educational attainment and inequality

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Abstract

The geography of education, especially at sub-national level, is a huge black box. Basically nothing is known about the distribution of educational attainment and inequality across regions in Europe. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by mapping educational attainment and inequality in 102 regions in western Europe, using data extracted from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) covering more than 100,000 individuals over the period 1995-2000. The results of this Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) reveal a strong correlation between levels of educational attainment and inequality across regions in Europe. Regions with similar educational conditions tend to cluster, often within national borders. In addition a North-South and an urban-rural dimension is evident. Northern regions and large European metropoli have not only the most educated labour force, but also the lowest levels of inequality. Educational inequality seems to be, in any case, a fundamentally within region phenomenon. 90 percent of the educational inequality in Europe takes place among individuals living in the same region.

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  • Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Vassilis Tselios, 2007. "Mapping the European regional educational distribution: Educational attainment and inequality," Working Papers 2007-18, Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales.
    • Handle: RePEc:imd:wpaper:wp2007-18
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    Cited by:

    1. Ahmed, Sofia, 2011. "Does economic geography matter for Pakistan? a spatial exploratory analysis of income and education inequalities," MPRA Paper 35062, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Yannis Psycharis & Vassilis Tselios, 2016. "Politics and Investment: Examining the Territorial Allocation of Public Investment in Greece," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 1097-1112, July.
    3. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Vassilis Tselios, 2012. "Welfare Regimes and the Incentives to Work and Get Educated," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(1), pages 125-149, January.
    4. Claude DIEBOLT & Ralph HIPPE, 2017. "Regional human capital inequality in Europe in the long run, 1850-2010," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 45, pages 5-30.
    5. Agasisti, Tommaso & Cordero-Ferrera, Jose M., 2013. "Educational disparities across regions: A multilevel analysis for Italy and Spain," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1079-1102.

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    Keywords

    educational attainment; educational inequality; regions; exploratory spatial data analysis; Europe; urbanisation; EU North-South divide;
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