The Geography of EU Discontent and the Regional Development Trap

While in recent times many regions have flourished, many others are stuck-or are at risk of becoming stuck-in a development trap. Such regions experience decline in economic growth, employment, and productivity relative to their neighbors and to their own past trajectories. Prolonged periods in deve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic geography 2024-05, Vol.100 (3), p.213-245
Main Authors: Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, Dijkstra, Lewis, Poelman, Hugo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accession
Area planning & development
development trap
Discontent
Econometrics
Economic analysis
Economic development
Economic growth
Employment
European integration
Euroscepticism
Geography
National elections
Productivity
Regional development
Regional planning
Regions
Stagnation
Traps
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Summary:While in recent times many regions have flourished, many others are stuck-or are at risk of becoming stuck-in a development trap. Such regions experience decline in economic growth, employment, and productivity relative to their neighbors and to their own past trajectories. Prolonged periods in development traps are leading to political dissatisfaction and unrest. Such discontent is often translated into support for antisystem parties at the ballot box. In this article we study the link between the risk, intensity, and duration of regional development traps and the rise of discontent in the European Union (EU)-proxied by the support for Eurosceptic parties in national elections between 2013 and 2022-using an econometric analysis at a regional level. The results highlight the strong connection between being stuck in a development trap, often in middle- or high-income regions, and support for Eurosceptic parties. They also suggest that the longer the period of stagnation, the stronger the support for parties opposed to European integration. This relationship remains robust whether considering only the most extreme Eurosceptic parties or including parties with more moderate levels of Euroscepticism.
ISSN:0013-0095
1944-8287
DOI:10.1080/00130095.2024.2337657