Title: Half a world
First published: 2005
Description: "The paper studies regional (spatial) inequality in the five most populous countries in the world: China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil in the period 1980-2000.  They are all federations or quasi-federations composed of entities with substantial economic autonomy.  Two types of regional inequalities are considered: Concept 1 inequality, which is inequality between mean incomes (GDP per capita) of states/provinces, and Concept 2 inequality, which is inequality between population-weighted regional mean incomes.  The first inequality speaks to the issue of regional convergence, the second, to the issue of overall inequality as perceived by citizens within a nation.  All three Asian countries show rising inequality in terms of both concepts in the 1990s.  Divergence in income outcomes is particularly noticeable for the most populous states/provinces in China and India.  The United States, where regional inequality is the least, shows further convergence.  Brazil, with the highest level of regional inequality, displays no trend.  A regression analysis fails to establish robust association between the usual macroeconomic variables and the two types of regional inequality. "--World Bank web site.
Subjects: Economic conditions, Regional disparities
Places: United States, Brazil, Indonesia, China, India
Time periods: 1947-, 1985-, 2001-, 1997-, 1976-
LC classification: HG3881.5.W57