Spatial Dimensions of Inequality

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

The papers in this panel break new ground in examining the spatial dimensions of inequality. Drawing on evidence from Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, the authors engage in a comparative discussion about the origins, effects, and persistence of spatial inequality. Boone (2023) observes that many studies of inequality focus on macro (state) or micro (individual) levels of analysis, yet the most lasting, pervasive, and under-studied effects of inequality can be observed sub-nationally. Boone’s paper on across-region inequality in Africa is a generative theoretical and empirical analysis of how uneven economic development may drive ethnic favoritism in post-colonial African states. In conversation with Boone, Ricart-Huguet analyzes the regional distribution of education in Senegal and the links between colonial schooling endowments and ministerial cabinet appointments. Using data from multiple European countries, Rogers and Lee theorize how regional inequalities inform voter preference formation and demonstrate how being from a rich or poor region may drive variation in party support. Hartnett tests a theory about how inequalities stemming from colonial-era policies vary in the short, medium, and long-term using village-level data from Jordan. Taken together, these papers underscore the importance of taking local and regional inequalities seriously to explain multiple outcomes of interest in comparative political economy, particularly patterns of identity politics, representation, preference formation, and economic development.

Sub Unit

• Division 55: Class and Inequality

Individual Presentations

• Regions of State: Spatial Inequality and Political Regionalism in Africa - Catherine Boone, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

• Human Capital and Cabinet Formation in Senegal - Joan Ricart-Huguet, Loyola University Maryland

• Political Parties and the Geography of Economic Preferences - Melissa Ziegler Rogers, Claremont Graduate University; Dong Wook Lee, Adelphi University

• Colonial Land Settlement and the Periodicity of Long-Run Inequality - Allison Spencer Hartnett, University of Southern California

Chair

• Pablo Beramendi Duke University

Discussant

• Diogo Ferrari University of California, Riverside