Regional Inequality in Switzerland, 1860 to 2008
Economic History Working Papers No: 250/2016 Multiple Core Regions: Regional Inequality in Switzerland, 1860 to 2008 Christian Stohr London School of Economics Economic History Department, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, UK. T: +44 (0) 20 7955 7084. F: +44 (0) 20 7955 7730 LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC HISTORY WORKING PAPERS NO. 250 - SEPTEMBER 2016 Multiple Core Regions: Regional Inequality in Switzerland, 1860 to 2008 Christian Stohr London School of Economics Abstract This paper estimates regional GDP for three different geographical levels in Switzerland. My analysis of regional inequality rests on a heuristic model featuring an initial growth impulse in one or several core regions and subsequent diffusion. As a consequence of the existence of multiple core regions Swiss regional inequality has been comparatively low at higher geographical levels. Spatial diffusion of economic growth has occurred across different parts of the country and within different labor market regions at the same time. This resulted in a bell- shape evolution of regional inequality at the micro regional level and convergence at higher geographical levels. In early and in late stages of the development process, productivity differentials were the main drivers of inequality, whereas economic structure was determinant between 1888 and 1941. Keywords: Regional data, inequality, industrial structure, productivity, comparative advantage, switzerland JEL Codes: R10, R11, N93, N94, O14, O18 Acknowledgements: I thank Heiner Ritzmann-Blickensdorfer and Thomas David for sharing their data on value added by industry with me. I’m grateful to Joan Rosés, Max Schulze, and Ulrich Woitekfor several enlightening discussions.
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