Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Handle: RePEc:ida:wpaper:WP2609
Number: WP2609
Creation-Date: 2026-02-25
Length: 34 pages
File-URL: https://repec.ideagov.eu/RePEc/ida/wpaper/WP2609.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: First version, 2026

Title: Asymmetric Decentralization and Inequality
Abstract: This paper examines how spatial inequalities interact with asymmetric decentralization to shape redistributive effort and distributional outcomes. Using cross-national evidence on top income and wealth shares, progressive tax structures, and measures of asymmetric regional authority and legislative malapportionment, the authors find: (i) higher spatial inequality is associated with greater concentration at the top of the income and wealth distributions; (ii) asymmetric regional authority is, on average, linked to lower inequality and higher progressive tax shares, though its egalitarian association weakens as spatial inequality rises; and (iii) legislative malapportionment correlates with higher inequality and lower progressive taxation and typically amplifies the inequality-raising role of spatial disparities. The results highlight that institutional asymmetries condition the capacity and willingness of states to tax and redistribute under pronounced territorial disparities.
Keywords: asymmetric decentralization, spatial inequality, progressive taxation, malapportionment, regional authority, redistribution

Author-Name: Pablo Beramendi
Author-Name-First: Pablo
Author-Name-Last: Beramendi

Author-Name: Melissa Rogers
Author-Name-First: Melissa
Author-Name-Last: Rogers