Carlos Gil

Regional inequality in the European Union: Does industry mix matter?

Ezcurra R., Gil C., Pascual P. and Rapún M. (2005) Regional inequality in the European Union: does industry mix matter?, Regional Studies 39 , 679–697. The aim of this paper is to test for the respective roles of regional and sectoral factors in productivity convergence in the European Union between 1977 and 1999. The methodology used for this is a new one that combines an alternative version of shift–share analysis with various results quoted in the literature on personal income distribution. The empirical evidence suggests that regional disparity in productivity in the European Union is closely related to intrinsic differences between regions. Whatever the case, the results that emerge also reveal the fundamental role of the country effect in accounting for regional disparities in income per worker in Europe. In addition our empirical results support the relevance of one‐sector growth models to explicate per‐capita income disparities in the European regions.

Inequality, Polarisation and Regional Mobility in the European Union

This paper examines the distribution dynamics of regional per capita income in the European Union between 1977 and 1999. To achieve this aim, a non-parametric approach is combined with the information provided by various measures used in the literature on personal income distribution. The results obtained suggest that regional inequality and polarisation have decreased in the European context over the period considered. Likewise, the observed level of intradistributional mobility is relatively low. Furthermore, the findings reveal the important role played by the national component and the spatial dimension in the distribution dynamics.

Regional welfare disparities: the case of the European Union

The regional welfare distribution in the European Union between 1993 and 1998 is examined, using several complementary methodologies. The results obtained show a reduction in regional welfare disparities over the period analysed. It is worth noting, in this respect, however, that regional productivity differences prove to be the main determinant behind observed welfare inequality in the European context. Moreover, there has also been a decline in regional bipolarization over the six-year contemplated, while the degree of observed intradistributional mobility is relatively low. The empirical evidence presented, nevertheless, reveals the importance of variables such as the national component, the spatial location, the regional productive structure or the percentage of GDP devoted to investment or to R&D expenditure, in accounting for the dynamics of the distribution under analysis.

Regional allocation of Structural Funds in the European Union

Economic disparities among the regions of the European Union are more pronounced than among countries. Structural Funds have played a crucial compensatory role, promoting the economic development and real convergence of lagging regions. The amount of resources destined to regional policy and the conflicts arising from its funding and distribution create the need for an adequate theoretical foundation or model to help politicians solve the distribution problem. In this paper we propose an empirical procedure to carry out and evaluate different distributions of funds for the periods 1989 – 93 and 1994 – 99. We begin with the estimation of an augmented production function to permit the calculation of the expected GDP per capita. We then propose a nonlinear programming method to simulate alternative distributions of Structural Funds among Objective 1 regions, based upon two different approaches: equal development, and equal opportunities. For these two approaches we calculate different possibilities, ranging from highly efficient to highly equitable, with the result that we are able to show the ‘frontier’ of optimal distributions. Finally, we evaluate these results and compare them with the real distribution.