Convened by Jacob A. Jordaan, Utrecht School of Economics, Utrecht University, and "Rafael Garduño Rivera, School of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad de Navarra

This special session focuses on the economics of agglomeration and its implications for regional inequality, structural transformation, and sustainable development in developing and emerging economies. While agglomeration is widely associated with economic benefits—such as productivity gains, innovation spillovers, and increased competitiveness—recent research shows that it can also reinforce spatial disparities. By concentrating economic activity, infrastructure, and skilled labour in specific locations while marginalising others, agglomeration often leads to structural regional inequality, with long-run implications for inclusive growth and spatial cohesion.

Despite these risks, agglomeration continues to be promoted by organisations such as the World Bank as a central pillar of industrial and development strategies. However, such strategies often underestimate the uneven spatial outcomes and institutional constraints that shape their broader developmental impact—particularly in contexts marked by historically rooted regional divides or weak governance.

This session invites empirical and theoretical contributions that examine the development consequences of agglomeration—particularly its effects on regional inequality, structural transformation, and inclusive growth. We are especially interested in work that explores how these outcomes are shaped by factors such as trade liberalisation, global value chain integration, technological change, and labour mobility, as well as by national policies, local economic structures, and institutional settings.

In line with the EADI/IOB 2026 theme, the session explores how global economic forces intersect with local conditions to shape divergent development outcomes. It provides a platform to assess under what economic and institutional conditions agglomeration-based strategies can contribute to spatially equitable and sustainable development—or risk reinforcing long-term structural disparities that undermine inclusive growth.