The Dark Side of the Crisis: Disparities in per Capita income (2000–12) and the Urban-Rural Gradient in Greece

The present study investigates changes (2000--12) in the spatial distribution of per capitaincome in Greece assessing how economic expansion and recession shape regional disparities ina traditionally-divided country. Descriptive statistics, multivariate techniques and spatial analysishave been carried out to identify clusters of Greek regions with an homogeneous developmentpath. Results outline how the gap between wealthy and disadvantaged regions consolidated witheconomic expansion (2000--07) strengthening the centrality of medium-size urban areas,industrial and tourism-specialised districts. Recession (2008--12) has widened the gap betweenAthens and the rest of Greece, while mitigating the disparities in per capita income betweenrich and poor regions. This evidence seem to contrast with literature indicating how dynamicregions came to be less exposed to recession than economically-disadvantaged regions. The2008--09 crisis stimulates a rethinking of the geography of socio-economic disparities in highly-divided countries, pointing out how expansion and recession differently impact the spatialdistribution of wealth