Wage income inequality in Catalonian second-rank cities

Abstract

Urban inequality analysis in developed countries has mainly focused in large and global cities; less research has been done on second-rank cities. This study aims to fill this research gap, analysing the explaining factors of wage inequality in Catalonian second-rank cities. Catalonian polycentric urban system may be considered as representative of the polycentric and less concentrated European urban system. We use a comprehensive data set for 41 cities in 2001 and 2011 to study the main determinants of wage inequality and of its change. Our results point to the distribution of skills and the average wage income as the main explaining factors.