The regional development trap in Europe

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

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

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.

Keywords: development trap; middle-income; economic growth; employment; productivity; regions; Europe; 0000-0002-5193-7739; 0000-0002-8354-792X and 2018CE16BAT055 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2022-07-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published in Economic Geography, 14, July, 2022, 98(5), pp. 487-509. ISSN: 0013-0095

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/115149/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Regional Development Trap in Europe (2022)
Working Paper: The Regional Development Trap in Europe (2022)
Working Paper: The Regional Development Trap in Europe (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:115149

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