1. Economic complexity, environmental quality and income equality: A new trilemma for regions?
- Author
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Marco, Rocio, Llano, Carlos, and Pérez-Balsalobre, Santiago
- Subjects
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INCOME inequality , *SUSTAINABILITY , *COVID-19 pandemic , *ECONOMIC expansion , *KUZNETS curve - Abstract
The objective of this paper is to link the literatures on economic complexity, income equality and environmental quality within the context of the Environmental Kuznets Trilemma. Within this framework, it is possible to measure the presence of an impossible trinity of irreconcilable objectives: economic growth, equal distribution of income and environmental sustainability. Our paper revisits this trilemma by focusing on economic complexity (EC) indexes instead of direct measures of economic growth, and applies this analysis to the sub-national level. We link these three cutting-edge topics by means of novel datasets computed for the Spanish economy at the province level (NUTS-3) for a long period (2002–16). Our paper also sheds new light on the spatial patterns of the trilemma's three dimensions and their implications for the future of Spain's more peripheral regions. ⁃ This paper links the literatures on economic complexity, income equality and environmental quality within the context of the Environmental Kuznets Trilemma. ⁃ Our paper focuses on economic complexity indexes instead of direct measures of economic growth, and applies this analysis to the sub-national level, using novel datasets for the Spanish provinces (NUTS-3) for a long period (2002–16). ⁃ Our paper shows a clear tension between economic growth and complexity versus income equality and environmental quality. The econometric analysis verifies the classic trilemma (equality-sustainability-growth), but also of our new version: equality-sustainability-complexity. ⁃ The paper also tests the presence of a quadrilemma, discussing the role to which a province's level of complexity tends to play in the tensions between growth, inequality, and sustainability. The results open new avenues for the smart specialization of regions within countries, something specially relevant in the COVID-19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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