Aim/purpose – The aim of this study is to examine the spatial inequality in Jordan, amongst Jordan’s rural and urban governorates (Muhafazat).
Design/methodology/approach – This study describes and portrays comparisons between investigated administrative units in search of finding the governorates’ economic inequality. It is based on the official raw data of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) which were created by Jordan’s Department of Statistics (DoS) in 2013-2014. It uses four indicators covering water, sewage, labour market and finance to present inequalities between rural and urban areas. In addition, it uses another four measures covering income and expenditure of the households and their members to find inequality among governorates.
Findings – The results indicate that although there is generally a significant inequality between rural and urban areas in Jordan, there is much more substantial inequality among governorates; people in Amman are the richest and those in Tafiela, Mafraq, and Ma’an are the poorest.
Research implications/limitations – Some development programs should be carried out to reduce the existing inequality to lead to the improvement of life quality of the rural areas and to support their infrastructure, as well as to provide economic opportunities. Economic decentralisation should be considered seriously, and the development programs for the governorates should be redefined.
Originality/value/contribution – This is the first investigation into spatial differences in intergenerational mobility in Jordan and provides critical evidence in spatial inequality of economic outcomes and infrastructure available for Jordan.
