Regional inequality in Europe: evidence, theory and policy implications

Simona Iammarino, Andrés Rodríguez-Pose and Michael Storper

Journal of Economic Geography, 2019, vol. 19, issue 2, 273-298

Abstract: Regional economic divergence has become a threat to economic progress, social cohesion and political stability in Europe. Market processes and policies that are supposed to spread prosperity and opportunity are no longer sufficiently effective. The evidence points to the existence of several different modes of regional economic performance in Europe, responding to different development challenges and opportunities. Both mainstream and heterodox theories have gaps in their ability to explain the existence of these different regional trajectories and the weakness of the convergence processes among them. Therefore, a different approach is required, one that strengthens Europe’s strongest regions but develops new approaches to promote opportunity in industrial declining and less-developed regions. There is ample new theory and evidence to support such an approach, which we have labelled ‘place-sensitive distributed development policy’.

Keywords: Regions; inequality; economic divergence; place-sensitive development; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R11 R12 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (173)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Regional inequality in Europe: evidence, theory and policy implications (2019)
Working Paper: Regional inequality in Europe: evidence, theory and policy implications (2018)
Working Paper: Regional inequality in Europe: evidence, theory and policy implications (2018)
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Journal of Economic Geography is currently edited by Jorge De la Roca, Stephen Gibbons, Simona Iammarino, Amanda Ross and James Faulconbridge

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