Regional Inequality in the Knowledge Economy in Europe and North America

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Work on American politics points to growing urban-rural cleavages in voting behavior, which mirror the changing economic fates of cities in the knowledge economy. However, the extent to which regional divides are growing and their political implications vary substantially across Europe. This panel examines spatial divides in Europe and North America, asking three interlinked questions. First, to what extent do we see varying forms of spatial inequality across contexts? In some countries, there are growing divides between growing urban centers. In others, a more even distribution of productive capacities or substantial regional redistribution reduces overall regional disparities. Second, what explains the underlying politics of regional inequality? Panelists examine the varying incentives across both electoral and political systems for equal investments in skills, infrastructure, and firm support and for redistributive transfers. Third, what are the political implications of varying forms of regional inequality for the behavior of political parties both in the electorate and in governing coalitions? All four papers draw on new datasets of regional inequality in Europe and North America, testing novel theoretical claims about the varying incentives across contexts for political actors to respond to spatial inequalities both economically and politically.

Sub Unit

• Division 15: European Politics and Society

Individual Presentations

• The Politics of Region-Biased Technological Change - Caterina Chiopris, Harvard University; Torben Iversen, Harvard University; David Soskice, Oxford University

• Spatial Inequalities as a Problem of Political Integration - Andreas Wiedemann, Princeton University

• Crossing the Density Divide: Party Systems and Urban-Rural Coalitions - Jonathan Rodden, Stanford University; Twan Huijsmans, University of Amsterdam

• Regional Inequality in Europe and North America - Jane R. Gingrich, University of Oxford

Chair

• Jane R. Gingrich University of Oxford

Discussants

• Melissa Ziegler Rogers Claremont Graduate University

• Pablo Beramendi Duke University