Regional Proximity and Income Distribution in Europe: Nonparametric Conditioning

The paper follows a “spatial thinking” perspective to evaluate if regional clustering has an impact on income distribution in Europe and if the distance from the centres of gravity of the European Union's economic activity matters with respect to the development chances of regions. Using a nonparametric conditioning methodology, regional per capita income distribution has been conditioned for spatial spillovers, innovation and geographically bounded technology spillovers. The results seem to suggest that geographical spillovers and, above all, local technology spillovers are important factors explaining the distribution of income and the tendency of relatively backward and peripheral regions to lag behind.