ABSTRACT
This paper examines journal publications and article citations on the subject of the spatial dimensions of income inequality within the social sciences. A systematic literature review methodology is used to develop a dataset containing 2944 articles published between 1980 and 2014. Analysis reveals that the number of papers soared in the late 1990s with significant differences (1) between papers focusing on the causes versus consequences of inequality; and (2) in the spatial scales studied. Increases in interdisciplinary and multidimensional approaches to understanding regional inequalities are also key features of the literature. Areas for future work on spatial inequality are outlined.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
SUPPLEMENTAL DATA
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2017.1371292.
ORCiD
Alicia Cavanaugh http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4966-8397
Sébastien Breau http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5594-2674
Notes
1. For the 3050 studies dealing primarily with non-OECD countries, the number of publications on inequality has grown fastest in China, followed by India, Pakistan and Indonesia (see Wei, Citation2017, for a recent review of this literature).
2. Labelled as ‘ripple-making’ (10+ cites), ‘wave-making’ (40+ cites) and ‘splash-making’ papers (60+ cites).
3. Cross-national studies of inequality included in our analysis are those consisting of a majority of OECD countries.
4. A detailed thematic coding of the remaining n = 2024 papers on the consequences of inequality will be part of a follow-up study.