The Spatial Dimension of Segregation: A Case Study in Four French Urban Areas, 1990-1999

The aim of this paper is to analyze the intra-urban spatial segregation in terms of socio-professional categories in four French urban areas: Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and Dijon. Two questions are investigated. First, how does spatial segregation vary across the four urban poles? Second, what are the spatial patterns of segregation within each urban pole? In order to answer these questions, we compute spatial global segregation indices for socio-professional categories in each urban area, together with entropy indices, which are local segregation indices that reflect the diversity within each unit and that can be mapped to show the spatial variations of segregation among the units of the four urban poles. The results highlight the self-segregation of the managers, the specific features of Paris and the complex spatial distribution of segregation.segregation, French urban areas, entropy index

The evolution of regional productivity disparities in the European Union, 1975-2000

The aim of this paper is to assess the evolution of regional productivity disparities in the European Union. Using a sample of 205 regions and 8 sectors on the 1975-2000 period, we use Esteban’s (2000) shift-share analysis to investigate the extent to which the existing interregional inequalities in productivity can be attributed to differences in sectoral composition between regions and/or to uniform productivity gaps across sectors. After a specification search on the bivariate functional forms that relate productivity differentials to their shift-share decomposition, the difference between regional and EU average productivity is regressed on the three shift-share components: industry-mix, differential and allocative (i.e. the covariance between the first two components). In that purpose, spatial seemingly unrelated (SUR) regressions are carried out to study the evolution of the impact of the components on the productivity gap over time, while allowing for intertemporal covariance. Moreover, spatial autocorrelation is also included in the SUR regressions, and its evolution over the period is analyzed. Results indicate that both spatio-temporal dependencies are essential in model specification.European regions, productivity disparities, spatial autocorrelation, SUR

Evaluating the Temporal and the Spatial Heterogeneity of the European Convergence Process, 1980-1999

In this paper, we suggest a general framework that allows testing simultaneously for temporal heterogeneity, spatial heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation in b-convergence models. Based on a sample of 145 European regions over the 1980-1999 period, we estimate a Seemingly Unrelated Regression Model with spatial regimes and spatial autocorrelation for two sub-periods: 1980-1989 and 1989-1999. The assumption of temporal independence between the two-periods is rejected and the estimation results point to the presence of spatial error autocorrelation in both sub-periods and spatial instability in the second sub-period, indicating the formation of a convergence club between the peripheral regions of the European Union.b-convergence models, spatial autocorrelation, convergence clubs, temporal instability