State rescaling and economic convergence
State rescaling and economic convergence
This paper critically engages with State/Space theory by interrogating the soundness of its fundamental assumptions regarding the rescaling of capitalism and by questioning the validity of its proposition about the ever-rising spatial imbalances and economic divergence in post 1970s' Europe. The paper employs descriptive, cartographic and econometric analysis of the regional and urban growth data covering 28 European Union countries and 11 major OECD and BRICs economies. The vast volume of multi-scalar evidence presented here cannot substantiate the central rescaling hypothesis about Europe's increasing spatial disparities. A set of alternative explanations is proposed to account for the reported European economic convergence trends.
This work would not have been possible without the generous financial support of theTransport and Urban Development COST Action ‘CIRESCitiesRegrowing Smaller’ [grant number TU0803] and the Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe ENSUF project ‘3S RECIPE: Smart Shrinkage Solutions – Fostering Resilient Cities in Inner Peripheries of Europe’ [UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant number ES/R000352/1].
Keywords: rescaling; urban; regional; convergence; cohesion; Europe
ORCID: Vlad Mykhnenko
Researchers
Publications
Mykhnenko, V. and Wolf, M. State rescaling and economic convergence, Regional Studies 2018. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Regional Studies on 4th June 2018.
