The nature, causes, and consequences of inter-regional inequality

Harald Bathelt, Maximilian Buchholz and Michael Storper

Journal of Economic Geography, 2024, vol. 24, issue 3, 353-374

Abstract: Social scientists and policymakers alike have become increasingly concerned with understanding the nature, causes, and consequences of inter-regional inequality in economic living conditions. Contemporary spatial inequality is multi-faceted—it varies depending on how we define inequality, the scale at which it is measured, and which groups in the labor force are considered. Increasing economic inequality has important implications for broader social and political issues. Notably, it is difficult to account for the rise of far-right populism in industrialized countries without considering the context of growing inter-regional inequality. Important explanations for the rise in inter-regional inequality include changing patterns of worker and firm sorting processes across space, major transitions like the reorientation of the economy from manufacturing to digital technologies, and increasing global economic integration, as well as policy. Different causal explanations in turn imply a different role for place-based policy. This article introduces the context of the special issue on the nature, causes, and consequences of inter-regional inequality, focusing specifically on inequality in North America and Western Europe, and aims to identify challenges for, and spark further research on, inter-regional inequality.

Keywords: global economic integration; inter-regional connectivity; inter-regional inequality; place-based policies; political polarization; sorting across space (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 D72 D83 F21 O18 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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