Regional Integration in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU): Complementarity or Competition?

This paper analyzes and characterizes the nature of the interactions between countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) over the period 1995–2015. The analysis uses sigma-convergence on the one hand and the Dendrinos-Sonis spatial competition model estimated by the SUR method on the other hand. The results show a lack of convergence of living standards and support the idea of income polarization in space; these results also support the idea of a very poorly integrated region with relatively competitive interrelationships. The paper suggests the acceleration of regional integration in the WAEMU region combined with the implementation of inclusive integration policies that promote each member’s comparative advantage.

The temporal evolution of income polarization in Canada’s largest CMAs

Income polarization is a pressing issue which is increasingly discussed by academics and policymakers. The present research examines income polarization in Canada’s eight largest Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) using data at the census-tract (CT) level between 1971 and 2016. Generally, there are significant decreasing trends in the middle-income population with simultaneously increasing trends in low-income groups. The high-income groups have been relatively stable with fewer significant increasing population trends. Using conventional mapping and cartograms, patterns of the spatial evolution of income inequality are illustrated. Every CMA examined contains an increasing trend of spatial fragmentation at the patch level within each CMA’s landscape mosaic. The results of a spatial autocorrelation analysis at the sub-patch, CT level, exhibit significant spatial clustering of high-income CTs as one process that dominates the increasingly fragmented landscape mosaic.

Inequality of Income in Agricultural Holdings in Poland in the Context of Sustainable Agricultural Development

The study investigates the redistributive effects of agricultural policy and the importance of income inequalities among agricultural holdings for sustainable agricultural development based on the intra-sectoral differences of the disposable income of farmer households and the income from family agricultural holdings in Poland in the years 2004–2018. The problem of excessive and growing income inequalities in agriculture has been recognized as an important barrier to the sustainable development of agriculture in Poland. The aim of the study is to establish a relationship between the process of income polarization in agriculture and the process of concentration of production factors in this sector, and the level of budget support. The Gini coefficient, concentration index, and multivariate regression analysis were used as research methods. It was shown that the process of the concentration of land and capital has led to an increase in income disparities in this sector. Budgetary expenditure directed to the sector in the form of subsidies supporting farmer incomes was not able to reverse the process of income polarization, but mitigated the growing inequalities (reducing the scale of income spreads).

Polarization and Local Conflicts in Post Decentralization Indonesia

Exploring the hypothesis that socio-economic discrimination contributes to conflict occurrence, we show that the experience of a large country that have gone through a big-bang shift from centralized to decentralized system and introduced direct local elections, confirms the link. Using the case of Indonesia, and by controlling for poverty, demand-induced resource scarcity, and institutional variables, it is revealed that income polarization and inequality at the provincial level explain the occurrence of violent conflict (causing at least 1 death), be it for total or for different types. The results are robust to a series of model specifications. For understanding its impact on conflict, polarization is found more important than income inequality as a measure of socio-economic discrimination.