Wage structure trajectories and regional divergence : A sequence analysis of swedish local labour markets
Erlström, Andreas LU
(2026)
In Geoforum
176.
p.1-20
- Abstract
- The last decades have seen rising economic polarisation, often portrayed as a dichotomy between unequal yet successful metropolitan regions and ‘left behind’, poorer and predominantly smaller regions. However, there is also an argument for a more complex picture in which regions transition between economic growth and decline. This paper explores the long-term evolution of regional wage structures in Sweden over 30 years, employing geographical sequence analysis to trace the various regional pathways. I contextualise these regional path developments by situating them within the broader deindustrialisation of regional economies across phases of economic development. The findings reveal a wider range of developments as Swedish regions... (More)
- The last decades have seen rising economic polarisation, often portrayed as a dichotomy between unequal yet successful metropolitan regions and ‘left behind’, poorer and predominantly smaller regions. However, there is also an argument for a more complex picture in which regions transition between economic growth and decline. This paper explores the long-term evolution of regional wage structures in Sweden over 30 years, employing geographical sequence analysis to trace the various regional pathways. I contextualise these regional path developments by situating them within the broader deindustrialisation of regional economies across phases of economic development. The findings reveal a wider range of developments as Swedish regions underwent a turbulent period in the 1990s, linked to the growth of the knowledge economy. While this created an initial divergence between Downgrading and Upgrading regions, only a few, predominantly sparsely populated, regions have experienced continuous decline, and most regional economies have transitioned towards relative growth in middle-income jobs. The paper then extends the analysis, identifying four types of trajectories in regional development that provide insight into how various responses to deindustrialisation shape wage structures beyond the urban–rural divide. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/a32462a8-8012-4749-b6f8-3aa186908e2b
- author
- Erlström, Andreas
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-07-21
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Labour Market Polarisation, Economic Inequality, Regional Trajectories, Sequence Analysis, Regional Development
- in
- Geoforum
- volume
- 176
- article number
- 104763
- pages
- 20 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105044944282
- ISSN
- 0016-7185
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.geoforum.2026.104763
- project
- Evolving Geographies of Economic Inequality: Continuity and Change in Wage Structures Across Sweden, 1990–2018
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a32462a8-8012-4749-b6f8-3aa186908e2b
- date added to LUP
- 2026-08-06 11:20:10
- date last changed
- 2026-08-07 15:04:58
@article{a32462a8-8012-4749-b6f8-3aa186908e2b,
abstract = {{The last decades have seen rising economic polarisation, often portrayed as a dichotomy between unequal yet successful metropolitan regions and ‘left behind’, poorer and predominantly smaller regions. However, there is also an argument for a more complex picture in which regions transition between economic growth and decline. This paper explores the long-term evolution of regional wage structures in Sweden over 30 years, employing geographical sequence analysis to trace the various regional pathways. I contextualise these regional path developments by situating them within the broader deindustrialisation of regional economies across phases of economic development. The findings reveal a wider range of developments as Swedish regions underwent a turbulent period in the 1990s, linked to the growth of the knowledge economy. While this created an initial divergence between Downgrading and Upgrading regions, only a few, predominantly sparsely populated, regions have experienced continuous decline, and most regional economies have transitioned towards relative growth in middle-income jobs. The paper then extends the analysis, identifying four types of trajectories in regional development that provide insight into how various responses to deindustrialisation shape wage structures beyond the urban–rural divide.}},
author = {{Erlström, Andreas}},
issn = {{0016-7185}},
keywords = {{Labour Market Polarisation; Economic Inequality; Regional Trajectories; Sequence Analysis; Regional Development}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{07}},
pages = {{1--20}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Geoforum}},
title = {{Wage structure trajectories and regional divergence : A sequence analysis of swedish local labour markets}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2026.104763}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.geoforum.2026.104763}},
volume = {{176}},
year = {{2026}},
}