Roberta Capello and Silvia Cerisola (Politecnico di Milano)

Towards a Double Bell Theory of Regional Disparities

Abstract

Despite the large attention given to regional disparities, a theoretical framework simultaneously linking the inter and intra- regional development processes over time is still missing. A vast set of empirical analyses on inter-regional income inequalities indeed exists. In most cases it witnesses the presence of the famous Williamson’s inverted U-shaped relation between GDP per capita and inter-regional income inequalities, and of its augmented shape where the inverted U turns upward again at later stages of development. A much more limited literature has studied the same relationship at the intra-regional level. Our claim in this paper is that a double bell theory must be formulated in which inter and intra-regional disparity trends are conceptually interlinked, and the influence that one exerts over the other highlighted so to better understand their concurrent evolution. Empirical evidence is provided for such a framework on European regions.