Spatial distribution and inequality of wage income in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area

Authors

  • Rafa Madariaga
  • Joan Carles Martori
  • Ramon Oller

Keywords:

spatial distribution of wages, spatial autocorrelation, inequality indices

Abstract

Geographical differences among income levels are important for policy in cities. An innovative and alternative approach to estimate the income levels and analyse their distribution is presented. The wage income is obtained matching wage estimations from the Wage Structure Survey (WSS) with data from Census (1996-2001) broken down by census tract. The spatial resolution improves significantly existing data. Average wage income for each one of the 2500 census tracts of the 36 municipalities pertaining to the BMA for two periods is obtained. Average wage income shows high positive spatial autocorrelation; zones with similar levels tend to be spatially concentrated. Inequality has increased in this period. Intra-municipality component, differences inside municipalities, is the main cause of this growth.

Issue

Section

Articles