Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Decentralization of
Interpersonal
Redistribution
Centrifugal
Representation
Centripetal
Representation
Low
High
Heterogeneity in Economic Geography (Interregional
Differences in Income/Labor Market Risks)
FIGURE 2.4. The Conditional Relationship between Economic Geography and
Representation
What drives the (de)centralization of interpersonal redistribution?
Hypothesis 1
: Economic geography shapes preferences for the (de)central-
ization of interpersonal redistribution. A heterogeneous geography of income
and risk drives apart preferences for redistribution within and between regions,
thereby fostering the demand for decentralized systems of interpersonal redis-
tribution. By contrast, in the absence of high levels of regional economic special-
ization, large levels of mobility contribute to the homogeneization of redistribu-
tive preferences across regions and, through this route, to the centralization of
interpersonal redistribution.
Hypothesis 2
: Decentralization of interpersonal redistribution results from the
interaction between economic geography and political representation. Empiri-
cally, the following expectations should be substantiated:
A. Under centrifugal systems of representation, cross regional differences
in terms of inequality and risk translate directly into the adoption of
decentralized systems of redistribution.
B.
In contrast, under centripetal systems of representation, the nature of
political competition mutes the impact of cross-regional differences in
inequality and risk on the level of decentralization of redistribution. If
anything, under centripetal representation, one should expect inequality
between regions to facilitate either the adoption or the continuity of
centralized systems of redistribution.
