Regional polarisation and national development in the European Union

This paper examines spatial polarisation in the regional distribution of per capita income in a set of European Union countries over the period 1980-2001. The analysis reveals marked differences in the level and evolution of regional polarisation within the various countries considered. In addition, the empirical evidence presented clearly supports the key role played by national development processes in this context. The estimations show that, beyond a certain level of per capita income, regional polarisation decreases as the process of economic development advances. However, there are signs to suggest that regional polarisation increases once a relatively high level of per capita income is attained, although this rise is less marked than the decrease experienced previously. In fact, these findings are robust to the inclusion of additional variables in the analysis and to the choice of the measure used to quantify regional polarisation.