The long-term relationship between economic development and regional inequality: South-West Europe, 1860-2010

Alfonso Díez-Minguela, Rafael González-Val, Julio Martinez-Galarraga, M. Teresa Sanchis and Daniel A. Tirado
Additional contact information
Alfonso Díez-Minguela: Universitat de València
M. Teresa Sanchis: Universitat de València
Daniel A. Tirado: Universitat de València
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Daniel A. Tirado-Fabregat and Alfonso Díez Minguela ()

No 119, Working Papers from European Historical Economics Society (EHES)

Abstract: This paper analyses the long-term relationship between regional inequality and economic development. Our data set includes information on national and regional per-capita GDP for four countries: France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Data are compiled on a decadal basis for the period 1860-2010, thus enabling the evolution of regional inequalities throughout the whole process of economic development to be examined. Using parametric and semiparametric regressions, our results confirm the rise and fall of regional inequalities over time, i.e. the existence of an inverted-U curve since the early stages of modern economic growth, as the Williamson hypothesis suggests. We also find evidence that, in recent decades, regional inequalities have been on the rise again. As a result, the long-term relationship between national economic development and spatial inequalities describes an elephant-shaped curve.

Keywords: Economic development; regional inequalities; Kuznets curve; Europe; economic history (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N9 O18 R1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2017-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-gro, nep-his and nep-ure
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https://www.ehes.org/wp/EHES_119.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The long‐term relationship between economic development and regional inequality: South‐West Europe, 1860–2010 (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hes:wpaper:0119

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