This paper explores the nature and scale of inter-regional and inter-urban inequalities in the UK in the context of international comparisons and our aim is to identify the extent to which such inequalities are associated with strong national economic performance. In order to do this, we first discuss the evolution of UK interregional inequalities relative to comparator European economies over more than a century. We then focus specifically on comparisons between the UK and the reunified Germany. These two exercises demonstrate that the experience of the UK has been rather different to other countries. We further explore UK inter-urban inequalities in the light of international evidence and then explain why observations of cities only tell us a partial story about the nature of interregional inequalities, especially in the case of the UK. Finally, we move onto an OECD-wide analysis of the relationships between economic growth and interregional inequality. What we observe is that any such relationships are very weak, and the only real evidence of a positive relationship is in the post-2008 crisis period, a result which points to differentials in regional resilience rather than inequality-led growth. Moreover, once former transition economies are removed from the sample, the relationship disappears, or if anything becomes slightly negative. As such, the international evidence suggests that the UK’s very high spatial inequalities have hampered, rather than facilitated, national economic growth.

中文翻译：

---

历史和国际比较背景下的英国地区间不平等

本文在国际比较的背景下探讨了英国区域间和城市间不平等的性质和规模，我们的目标是确定这种不平等与强劲的国家经济表现相关的程度。为了做到这一点，我们首先讨论一个多世纪以来英国地区间不平等相对于比较欧洲经济体的演变。然后，我们特别关注英国和重新统一的德国之间的比较。这两次演习表明，英国的经历与其他国家有很大不同。我们根据国际证据进一步探索英国城市间的不平等，然后解释为什么对城市的观察只能告诉我们关于区域间不平等性质的部分故事，尤其是在英国的情况下。最后，我们继续对经合组织范围内的经济增长与区域间不平等之间的关系进行分析。我们观察到，任何此类关系都非常薄弱，唯一能证明积极关系的真正证据是在 2008 年后的危机时期，这一结果表明区域弹性存在差异，而不是不平等导致的增长。此外，一旦将前转型经济体从样本中剔除，这种关系就会消失，或者如果有任何事情变得稍微消极一些。因此，国际证据表明，英国高度的空间不平等阻碍而非促进了国民经济增长。唯一能证明正相关关系的真实证据是在 2008 年后的危机时期，这一结果表明区域复原力存在差异，而不是不平等导致的增长。此外，一旦将前转型经济体从样本中剔除，这种关系就会消失，或者如果有任何事情变得稍微消极一些。因此，国际证据表明，英国高度的空间不平等阻碍而非促进了国民经济增长。唯一能证明正相关关系的真实证据是在 2008 年后的危机时期，这一结果表明区域复原力存在差异，而不是不平等导致的增长。此外，一旦将前转型经济体从样本中剔除，这种关系就会消失，或者如果有任何事情变得稍微消极一些。因此，国际证据表明，英国高度的空间不平等阻碍而非促进了国民经济增长。