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Spatial Analysis of Regional Income Inequality

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  • Sergio J. Rey

    (San Diego State University)

Abstract

Questions surrounding regional economic convergence have commanded a great deal of recent attention in economics literature. As in other recent cases in the social sciences, the application of spatially explicit methods of data analysis to the convergence question has yielded important insights on regional economic growth. By contrast, the literature on regional income inequality, although somewhat older than the convergence literature, has been slower to adopt new spatially explicit methods of data analysis. This chapter helps to speed that adoption by investigating the role of spatial dependence and spatial scale in the analysis of regional income inequality in the US over the 1929-2000 period. The findings reveal a strong positive relationship between measures of inequality in state incomes and the degree of spatial autocorrelation. Additionally, a geographically based decomposition of inequality highlights a strong positive relationship between the interregional inequality share (as opposed to intraregional inequality) and spatial clustering. Finally, a new approach to inference in regional inequality analysis is suggested and demonstrated as providing a formal explanatory framework to complement the broad, but descriptive approaches in the existing literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio J. Rey, 2001. "Spatial Analysis of Regional Income Inequality," Urban/Regional 0110002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpur:0110002
    Note: Type of Document - postscript; prepared on PC Debian GNU/Linux tetex; to print on HP/PostScript; pages: 21; figures: included
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jung, Samuel Moon & Vijverberg, Chu-Ping C., 2019. "Financial development and income inequality in China – A spatial data analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 295-320.
    3. Agovino, M. & Casaccia, M. & Crociata, A. & Sacco, P.L., 2019. "European Regional Development Fund and pro-environmental behaviour. The case of Italian separate waste collection," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 36-50.
    4. Roberto Ezcurra & Pedro Pascual & Manuel Rapún, 2007. "The Spatial Distribution of Income Inequality in the European Union," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(4), pages 869-890, April.
    5. Leck, Eran & Bekhor, Shlomo & Gat, Daniel, 2008. "Equity Impacts of Transportation Improvements On Core and Peripheral Cities," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 1(2), pages 153-182.
    6. Ferhan Gezici, 2011. "Regional Disparities and the Performance of Peripheral Regions in Turkey," ERSA conference papers ersa11p147, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Juan Duque & Manuel Artís & Raúl Ramos, 2006. "The ecological fallacy in a time series context: evidence from Spanish regional unemployment rates," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 391-410, October.
    8. Pratap Kumar Mahakur & Narayan Chandra Nayak, 2019. "An investigation of intrastate income disparities and regional convergence in Odisha," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 21(2), pages 288-308, December.
    9. Luis Armando Galvis-Aponte & Jaime Bonet-Morón & Leonardo Bonilla-Mejía & Andrea Otero-Cortés & Gerson Javier Pérez-Valbuena & Christian Posso & Diana Ricciulli-Marín, 2021. "Desigualdades del ingreso en Colombia: ¿cuáles son sus determinantes y cómo se han afectado por la pandemia del Covid-19?," Revista ESPE - Ensayos Sobre Política Económica, Banco de la República, issue 101, pages 1-53, December.
    10. Roberto Ezcurra & Belén Iráizoz & Manuel Rapún, 2008. "Regional Efficiency in the European Union," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(8), pages 1121-1143, September.
    11. Ferhan Gezici & Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, 2007. "Spatial Analysis of Regional Inequalities in Turkey," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 383-403, April.
    12. Dusan Paredes & Victor Iturra & Marcelo Lufin, 2012. "A further step to understand income inequality in Chile: A decomposition using three-stages nested Theil index decomposition method," Documentos de Trabajo en Economia y Ciencia Regional 25, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2012.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    spatial analysis; regional income inequality;

    JEL classification:

    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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