Abstract

This research aims to measure the regional disparities in Jordan’s economic growth during 2010-2017. As an indicator to measure the economic growth in each region is the regional factor (R) adopted, and for estimation the regional factor is the Shift and Share method used. This method is widely used by geographical economist. The annual average of household income, as economic indicator, to estimate the regional factor in this study will be adopted. Data on annual household income were taken from the expenditure and income surveys prepared by the Jordanian General Statistics Department in year 2010 and year 2017. The results of this study indicate that economic growth in Irbid region and Mafraq region was greater than the national growth, while the rest of the regions have had much slower economic growth compared to national growth during the study period. Expect Amman region, the capital of Jordan, showed similar economic growth to national level. The results of the research indicate that the region’s share of income increased for regions that achieved high economic growth and in return this share was reduced to the values that showed low growth and lower than the rate of national economic growth. The least economically developed regions are the regions in the south of the country, despite the development policies in the field of balanced regional development, but because of the lack of infrastructure, they are still unable to reduce the development gap between the regions in Jordan. The study recommended the need for the government to enable the regions to accelerate regional development as well as reduction in the development gap between them by devolving administrative and financial powers from the central level to the regional level. It also recommended the need to support investment, especially in the less developed regions.

Keywords: economic growth, regional economics, income distribution, development planning, decentralization.

JEL Classification: P25.

Cite as: Aljaloudi, J. (2020). Measuring Regional Economic Growth In Jordan. SocioEconomic Challenges, 4(3), 125-130. https://doi.org/10.21272/sec.4(3).125-130.2020

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References

1. Breau, S. and Saillant, R. (2016). Regional income disparities in Canada: exploring the geographical dimensions of an old debate. In Regional Studies, Regional Science, 3(1), 464-482. DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2016.1244774.
2. Department of Statistic (2010). Household expenditure and income survy 2010. Amman, Jordan. Available at: www.dos.gov.jo.
3. Department of Statistic (2017). Household expenditure and income survy 2017. Amman, Jordan. Available at: www.dos.gov.jo.
4. Fujita, M., Krugman, P and Venables, A. (2001). The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade. Available at: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/spatial-economy.
5. Gennaioli, N. and Porta, L.·and De Silanes, F.·and Shleifer, A. (2016). The Trend of Regional Income Disparity in China. Working Paper Series Document Nº 193. Territorial Cohesion for Development Working Group. Journal of economic growth, 19, 259–309. DOI: 10.1007/s10887-014-9105-9.
6. Krugman, P. (1990). Increasing returns and economic geography. Working Paper, No. 3275.
7. Cambridge: National Bureau of Economic Research. Available at: https://pr.princeton.edu/pictures/g-k/krugman/krugman-increasing_returns_1991.pdf.
8. Mansour, W. (2012). The Patterns and Determinants of Household Welfare Growth in Jordan 2002–2010. Policy Research Working Paper 6249. Available at: https://documents.worldbank.org/…/en/416881468284337842/pdf/w…
9. Midelfa, K. (2004). Does agglomeration explain regional income inequalities? Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and CEPR. Available at: www.etsg.org/ETSG2004/Papers/midelfart.pdf.
10. Mueller, H.(1976). Methoden zur analyse und Prognose. Taschenbuecher zzur Raumplanung, Hannover.
11. Myrdal, G. (1957). Economic Theory and Underdeveloped Regions. London: University Paperbacks, Methuen. Available at: https://www.coursehero.com/file/p64q11o/Myrdal-G-1957-Economic-theory.
12. Ray, D. (2007). Introduction to development theory. Journal of Economic Theory, 137(1), 1-10. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-economic-theory/vol/137/issue/1.
13. Sheppard, E. et at. (2004). Introduction: reading economic geography. In Reading Economic Geography, Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson, eds. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Available at: https://b-ok.cc/book/2155658/0b4599.
14. UNDP and UNICEF (2015). An Empirical Analysis of Socio-economic Inequality in Jordan. Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Deposit Number at Department of the National Library (2050/5/2015). Available at: https://www.undp.org/content/dam/jordan/docs/Poverty/UNDP Socio…
15. Villaverde, J. and Maza, A. (2009). Measurement of regional economic disparities. UNU-CRIS Working Papers W-2009/S. Available at: https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/foli/14/2/article-p140.xml?
16. Wijerathna, D., Bandara, J., Smith, C., and Naranpanawa, A. (2014). Regional Disparities In Sri Lanka. Asia-Pacific Development Journal, 21(2), 77-102. DOI: 10.18356/93754059-en.