Persistence of inequalities across the Spanish regions

Abstract

This paper investigates several issues concerning persistence of inequalities of relative income per capita among the Spanish regions over the period 1980 to 2002. For that purpose we take a Bayesian approach which extends the work by Canova and Marcet. First, we study to what extent there exists a fixed effect bias in the standard cross-section estimates, and we find that the speed of convergence is indeed underestimated. Second, we provide a battery of results whereby steady states and convergence rates are obtained for a continuum of prior distributions. We explain the higher convergence rates of regional incomes to their own steady states on the basis of the high degree of capital mobility among the Spanish regions. Finally, we also deal with persistence of inequalities by determining whether initial conditions matter in the distribution of regional steady states, and our conclusion is that regional disparities tend to persist over time. Copyright (c) 2009 the author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2009 RSAI.

Classification of the European Union member states according to the relative level of sustainable development

“…In this situation it becomes very important to continue to monitor the changes in the level of development of countries and hence results the significant number of publications concerning the methodological and empirical studies in this area (Rodriguez-Lopez et al 2009 ; Henley 2005 ; Kosfeld et al 2006 ; Petrakos 2001 ; Royuela and Artis 2006 ; Burchart-Korol et al 2014 ).…”

Desarrollo y consolidación de los estudios regionales en España

“…El equipo de la Universidad de Alcalá ha enfatizado el papel de la estructura sectorial (Garrido, 2002) y también han profundizado en el rol de los servicios y la evolución de la productividad, como se verá posteriormente. Otros equipos se han centrado en la 'persistencia' de las desigualdades y sus causas (Rodríguez-Lopez et al, 2009), en los determinantes adicionales de la productividad a escala regional, como las infraestructuras y el capital humano (De la Fuente y Doménech, 2006; y De la Fuente, 2009), el esfuerzo en I+D, la innovación (como ha hecho el equipo del IVIE, de Valencia), la actividad emprendedora y el grado de descentralización fiscal, entre otros. También ha sido objeto de análisis el impacto del capital público en la productividad de las regiones, tema en el que a la aportación de Gómez y Fingleton (2012), han seguido otras excelentes contribuciones.…”

Development, contributions and trends in regional studies in Spain: An overview

“…The Alcala team have emphasized the role of the sectorial mix (Garrido, ). Others have considered the “persistence” of inequalities and their causes and the additional determinants of regional productivity, such as infrastructures, human capital, (De la Fuente, ; Montes‐Sola, Faiña, & López‐Rodriguez, ; Rodríguez‐López, Martínez‐López, & Romero‐Avila, ), R&D and innovation (like did the IVIE group) and the role of the entrepreneurs in regional development, a topic not sufficiently clarified.…”

“…). Others have considered the "persistence" of inequalities and their causes and the additional determinants of regional productivity, such as infrastructures, human capital,(De la Fuente, 2009;Montes-Sola, Faiña, & López-Rodriguez, 2016;Rodríguez-López, Martínez-López, & Romero-Avila, 2009), R&D and innovation (like did the IVIE group) and the role of the entrepreneurs in regional development, a topic not sufficiently clarified.All this illustrates not just an expansion of the search for factors to explain the disparities, but also analyses including innovations in terms of analytical techniques. From this point of view, some contributions must be specially considered:Ríos (2017) what drives unemployment disparities in European regions; Ramos, Suriñach, and Artís (2010) linked human capital spillovers with regional productivity and convergence;Castells-Quintana and Royuela (2014) provided an excellent analysis of the connections between agglomeration, inequality and economic growth andMárquez, Ramajo, and Hewings (2017) proposed a simple but innovative way to measure the role of geographical location in economic inequality.…”