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Regional Incomes in Portugal: Industrialisation, Integration and Inequality, 1890-1980*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2012

Marc Badia-Miró ,
Jordi Guilera  and
Pedro Lains
Marc Badia-Miró*
Affiliation:
Departament d'Història i Institucions Econòmiques, Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat d'Economia i Empresa, Centre d′Estudis «Antoni de Capmany» d′Economia i Història Econòmica, Xarxa de Referència d'R+D+I en Economia i Polítiques Públiques, Av. Diagonal, 690, Torre 2, Planta 4, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. mbadia@ub.edu and jguilera@ub.edu
Jordi Guilera*
Affiliation:
Departament d'Història i Institucions Econòmiques, Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat d'Economia i Empresa, Centre d′Estudis «Antoni de Capmany» d′Economia i Història Econòmica, Xarxa de Referència d'R+D+I en Economia i Polítiques Públiques, Av. Diagonal, 690, Torre 2, Planta 4, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. mbadia@ub.edu and jguilera@ub.edu
Pedro Lains*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Aníbal Bettencourt, 9, 1600-189 Lisboa, Portugal; and Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics. pedro.lains@ics.ul.pt
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Abstract

The analysis of the evolution of the location of economic activity in Portugal between 1890 and 1980 depicts a strong concentration of productive activity in the coastal regions. We estimate data for regional GDP per capita, which show that the evolution of regional inequality followed an inverted U-curve, in line with that observed in other regions of Europe, but with a rather late peak, in 1970. The reasons for this behaviour may be found in the limits to industrialisation in the interior regions and the benefits generated by the agglomeration economies in the more developed coastal regions.

Resumen

El análisis de la evolución de la localización de la actividad económica en Portugal, entre 1890 y 1980, nos muestra un fuerte proceso de concentración de la producción en las zonas costeras, coincidiendo con el proceso de decadencia de las provincias agrícolas del interior. A su vez, la evolución de la desigualdad espacial sigue una curva U-invertida, en la línea de lo observado en otras regiones de Europa, pero con el punto de máxima desigualdad hacia 1970, mucho más tarde que esas regiones. Las razones de ese comportamiento estarían en las dificultades que tuvo el país para modernizar la economía en aquellas regiones más atrasadas, sobretodo la industria, y las ventajas que generaron las economías de aglomeración en las regiones más desarrolladas.

Keywords

regional convergenceindustrialisationPortugalmarket integrationconvergencia regionalindustrializaciónPortugalintegración de mercados

JEL classification

N9: Regional and Urban History R1: General Regional Economics
Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , 07 September 2012 , pp. 225 - 244
Copyright
Copyright © Instituto Figuerola de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 2012

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