Since the late eighties, the emergence of a knowledge-intensive paradigm has significantly contributed to the growth and creation of wealth in Europe.

But how fair, diffused and inclusive has been the distribution of wealth created by the so-called knowledge economy?

The presentation of the book “The Economic Development of Europe’s Regions: A Quantitative History since 1900” by Joan R. Rosés and Nikolaus Wolf, which will be held at the School of Management on April 1st, 2019, will offer a great opportunity to discuss an unexplored transnational perspective on the development of Europe, its processes of convergence and divergence at regional level, as well as the related socio-political consequences.

The technology–market–capitalism triad, along with the withdrawal of traditional in its role of generating and redistributing wealth, coupled with the private appropriation of knowledge by new large knowledge-intensive enterprises, has produced relevant effects in terms of territorial inequalities, concentrating wealth and opportunities in a few concentrated, predominantly urban, areas.

Economists, historians and social scientists in general studied the history of European economic development adopting an approach that has often elected the national scale as a relevant unit of analysis, highlighting the role of national States and international Institutions.

But how does the interpretation of inequalities change if the unit of analysis is modified and a regional level perspective is adopted, in order to fully interpret the emergence asymmetries at territorial level?