Book
Spatial Disparities in Human Development

Perspectives from Asia

What exactly is spatial inequality? Why does it matter? And what should be the policy response to it? These questions have become important in recent years as the spatial dimensions of inequality have begun to attract considerable policy interest. In China, Russia, India, Mexico, and South Africa, as well as most other developing and transition economies, spatial and regional inequality - of economic activity, incomes, and social indicators - is on the increase. Spatial inequality is a dimension of overall inequality, but it has added significance when spatial and regional divisions align with political and ethnic tensions to undermine social and political stability. Also important in the policy debate is a perceived sense that increasing internal spatial inequality is related to greater openness of economies, and to globalization in general. Despite these important concerns, there is remarkably little systematic documentation of what has happened to spatial and regional inequality over the last twenty years. Correspondingly, there is insufficient understanding of the determinants of internal spatial inequality. This volume attempts to answer the questions posed above, drawing on data from twenty-five countries from all regions of the world. They bring together perspectives and expertise in development economics and in economic geography and form a well-researched introduction to an area of growing analytical and policy importance.

Table of contents
  1. Spatial Disparities in Human Development: An Overview of the Asian Evidence
    Ravi Kanbur, Anthony J. Venables, Guanghua Wan
  2. Part I: Methodological Issues
    Poverty Mapping With Aggregate Census Data: What Is the Loss in Precision?
    Nicholas Minot, Bob Baulch
    More Working Paper | Poverty Mapping with Aggregate Census Data
  3. Part I: Methodological Issues
    A Decomposition Analysis of Regional Poverty in Russia
    Stanislav Kolenikov, Anthony F. Shorrocks
    More Working Paper | A Decomposition Analysis of Regional Poverty in Russia
  4. Part I: Methodological Issues
    Trade Liberalization and Spatial Inequality: A Methodological Innovation in Vietnamese Perspective
    Nicholas Minot, Bob Baulch
  5. Part II: Inequality in Asia
    Fifty Years of Regional Inequality in China: A Journey Through Central Planning, Reform, and Openness
    Ravi Kanbur, Xiaobo Zhang
    More Working Paper | Fifty Years of Regional Inequality in China
  6. Part II: Inequality in Asia
    Income Inequality in Rural China: Regression-based Decomposition Using Household Data
    Guanghua Wan, Zhangyue Zhou
    More Working Paper | Income Inequality in Rural China
  7. Part II: Inequality in Asia
    Divergent Means and Convergent Inequality of Incomes among the Provinces and Cities of Urban China
    John Knight, Shi Li, Renwei Zhao
  8. Part II: Inequality in Asia
    Industrial Location and Spatial Inequality: Theory and Evidence from India
    Somik V. Lall, Sanjoy Chakravorty
    More Working Paper | Industrial Location and Spatial Inequality
  9. Part II: Inequality in Asia
    Spatial Horizontal Inequality and the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal
    Mansoob Murshed, Scott Gates
    More Working Paper | Spatial Horizontal Inequality and the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal
  10. Part II: Inequality in Asia
    Changes in Spatial Income Inequality in the Philippines: An Exploratory Analysis
    Arsenio M. Balisacan, Nobuhiko Fuwa
  11. Part II: Inequality in Asia
    Spatial Inequality and Development in Central Asia
    Kathryn H. Anderson, Richard Pomfret
  12. Part III: Poverty in Asia
    Decomposing Spatial Differences in Poverty in India
    Shatakshee Dhongde
    More Working Paper | Decomposing Spatial Differences in Poverty in India
  13. Part III: Poverty in Asia
    Commune-Level Estimation of Poverty Measures and Its Application in Cambodia
    Tomoki Fujii
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