RSPP Paper Award 2025

The Committe, made up of Denise Pumain (ERSA), Kara Kockelman (NARSC), Carlos Azzoni (LARSA), and Neil Reid (NARSC), evaluated five very good papers -pre-selected by the RSPP EiC, Andrea Caragliu- and decided that this year the Award goes to:

Loras-Gimeno, D., Gómez-Bengoechea, G., & Díaz-Lanchas, J. (2024). Fiscal redistribution and the narrowing urban–rural income gap. Regional Science Policy &Practice, 16(5), 100045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rspp.2024.100045

The winner was chosen because of its touching upon two very relevant topics for the regional science policy literature, viz. (i.) the role of agglomeration economies in driving territorial income imbalances, and (ii.) whether policies should target territories, rather than individuals.

The paper originally exploits Spanish micro data to show that, in a low density context, the urban-rural income gap decreases as a result of fiscal interventions, while also documenting relevant spatial heterogeneity in the gaps across Spanish regions.

These results offer a significant contribution to the regional science literature dealing with the role of national and regional policies in shaping local welfare levels.

Congratulations to the prize winners on their achievement!