Evaluating the spatial mismatch between population and factor endowments: The case of the European Union

Considerable research has been conducted on the trade-off between reducing regional inequality and promoting regional growth. However, there is a lack of empirical research exploring the relationship between this trade-off and the spatial mismatch between the distribution of regional populations and the spatial distribution of regional factor endowments. This paper assesses the existence of spatial mismatches between production factors and populations in European regions, with a focus on how these imbalances might affect regional disparities and growth. First, we compute spatial mismatch indices for capital stock and employment in relation to the distribution of population. Second, we use a vector autoregressive (VAR) approach to identify dynamic interactions in the short run. The results indicate that the spatial mismatch between population and labour plays a key role in the trade-off between European economic growth and regional inequality. The findings suggest that eliminating spatial mismatches between the spatial distribution of population and labour could lead to an increase in both economic growth and regional inequality. Moreover, the implementation of regional policies for resource allocation based on population-related criteria does not appear to mitigate regional economic inequality.