@misc{10481/84057,
year = {2023},
month = {7},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/84057},
abstract = {Historically, Euro-Mediterranean European countries have presented high levels of intra- and interregional socio-economic inequalities and are regular recipients of financial support under European Union Cohesion Policy. This paper provides evidence of regional convergence in the size of lower- and upper-middle-income classes across regions of France, Greece, Italy and Spain for the period 2004-17. Our results also reveal that changes in class size in neighbouring regions are associated with changes in the same direction in the lower- and upper-middle classes of the region of interest. As regards growth of class size in neighbouring regions, the convergence process is offset in both middle-income groups, but only partially for the upper-middle class. Furthermore, the economic cycle affects the process of regional convergence in the size of the middle class, although the effects are non-homogeneous for both middle-class groups. While increases or decreases in gross domestic product (GDP) do not seem to be closely related to upper-middle-class size, relatively persistent decreases rather than increases in GDP over time tend to be more linked to lower-middle-class size. These findings point to significant differences in the convergence dynamics between lower- and upper-middle classes, with the former being more sensitive to both neighbouring regions and the business cycle.},
organization = {University of Malaga},
organization = {University of Granada},
organization = {Regional Government of Andalusia [UMA18-FEDERJA-005]},
organization = {Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [AEI/10.13039/501100011033]},
publisher = {Taylor & Francis},
keywords = {Euro-Mediterranean countries},
keywords = {Middle-income class},
keywords = {Lower- and upper-middle classes},
keywords = {Regional convergence},
keywords = {Economic cycle},
keywords = {Spatial spillovers},
title = {Assessing regional convergence of the size of middle classes in Euro-Mediterranean countries},
doi = {10.1080/21681376.2023.2229421},
author = {Bárcena-Martín, Elena and Melchor Ferrer, Elías and Pérez-Moreno, Salvador},
}