Trends, structures and patterns of inequality and growth in Swedish regions: An analysis of the spatio-temporal patterns in the development of inequality and income in Sweden 1990–2016

Sammanfattning: This thesis analyses the spatio-temporal patterns of inequality and income growth in Sweden during the time-period 1990–2016. It aims at answering the question of whether there has been increasing inequalities, if so where and why. The study is motivated by the ongoing debate on regional development in research, public policy and media which frequently raise questions on the ongoing patterns of income inequality and what would be the best cause of action. It bases the analysis on a multitude of recent economic geographic literature on uneven development, strongly positioned to answer the why and how behind income inequalities. In order to conduct this analysis, a set of inequality indices are computed based on Statistics Sweden’s LISA-database. Furthermore, this thesis uses a variety of different scales in the analysis, ranging from detailed grids to generalised scales of NUTS-2. Findings suggest that Sweden experiences an overall increase of income inequalities. Moreover, the pattern of income inequalities are found to coincide with agglomeration economies and the structural growth cycles of the economy that increase wages for a set of professions. This is found to follow a centre-periphery pattern around the large urban areas which contain qualities that cluster knowledge-intensive firms and professions, creating both path- and place-dependency in income growth and income inequalities. This pattern is increasingly apparent in the spatial division of income and income growth within Stockholm which sees certain neighbourhoods performing well over the national average. It is found to create a ‘patchwork metropolis’ of winners and losers in terms of income which asks questions to the spill-over effects on welfare from agglomeration of wealth.