An exploratory analysis of the spatial distribution of income and wealth in Greece before and after a crisis

The present study evaluates changes in the economic performance of more than 50 prefectural districts in Greece along the 2000s with the aim of investigating the impact of recession on territorial disparities between coastal and inland, marginal areas. An exploratory data analysis was performed to produce a multidimensional interpretation of territorial disparities using per-capita income as a target variable and distinguishing specific development paths for homogeneous groups of regions. This approach has been preferred to more traditional procedures based on convergence analysis on income level and changes over time, since it fosters the debate on the increasingly complex geography of the economic development observed in Greece and the impact of the recent economic recession. Our results outline the existence of two distinct periods with generalized economic growth, a more regular statistical distribution of per-capita income among regions and increased territorial disparities between 2000 and 2008, preceding a period of economic stagnation that produces a heterogeneous distribution of regional income and moderate territorial disparities. Coastal-inland and urban-rural axes reveal as key gradients in shaping disparities in per-capita income, indicating at the same time different development paths considered as primary targets for integrated socioeconomic developmental policies.