RT Generic
T1 Coping with regional inequality in Sweden : structural change, migrations and policy, 1860-2000
A1 Enflo, Kerstin
A1 Rosés, Joan R.
A2 Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Historia Económica e Instituciones, 
AB In many countries, regional income inequality has followed an inverted Ushapedcurve, growing during industrialisation and market integration anddeclining thereafter. By contrast, Sweden’s regional inequality dropped from1860 to 1980 and did not show this U-shaped pattern. Accordingly, today’sregional income inequality in Sweden is lower than in other Europeancountries. We note that the prime mover behind the long-run reduction inregional income differentials was structural change, whereas neo-classical andtechnological forces played a relatively less important role. However, thisprocess of regional income convergence can be divided into two majorperiods. During the first period (1860-1940), the unrestricted action of marketforces, particularly the expansion of markets and high rates of internal andinternational migrations, led to the compression of regional incomedifferentials. In the subsequent period (1940-2000), the intended interventionof successive governments appears to have also been important for theevolution of regional income inequality. Regional convergence was intensefrom 1940 to 1980. In this period, governments aided the convergence inproductivity among industries and the reallocation of the workforce from thedeclining to the thriving regions and economic sectors. During the next period(1980-2000), when regional incomes diverged, governments subsidised firmsand people in the declining areas.
YR 2012
FD 2012-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10016/15820
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10016/15820
LA eng
NO Financial support from the donors of the International Special Fellowship at Lund UniversitySchool of Economics and Management is gratefully acknowledged (Visiting Fellows Program 2). Rosés alsoacknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project no. ECO2009-13331-C02-01. Enflo alsogratefully acknowledges funding from the Swedish Research Council (project no. 2008-2023) and from the JanWallander and Tom Hedelius foundation (project no W2008-0357:1)
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RD 26 jun. 2024