IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cep/cepdps/dp1259.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Political Economy of Inclusive Rural Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Carter
  • John Morrow

Abstract

Commentators on the `East Asian Miracle' of inclusive growth have often pointed toward shared rural growth policies. But why were these policies not chosen elsewhere? This paper models voters who invest in either subsistence or a complex technology in which public goods complement private capital. Investment and technology choices vary with wealth and the level of public goods enforced by political lobbies. Outcomes depend on the strength of the incipient middle class who bolster political incentives through contributions. Economies with a stronger middle class due to lower inequality or lower risk may thereby sustain higher productivity through public good provision.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Carter & John Morrow, 2014. "The Political Economy of Inclusive Rural Growth," CEP Discussion Papers dp1259, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1259
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1259.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ljungqvist, Lars, 1993. "Economic underdevelopment : The case of a missing market for human capital," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 219-239, April.
    2. Petia Topalova, 2010. "Factor Immobility and Regional Impacts of Trade Liberalization: Evidence on Poverty from India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 1-41, October.
    3. Ravallion, Martin & Datt, Gaurav, 1995. "Growth and poverty in rural India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1405, The World Bank.
    4. Alberto Alesina & Dani Rodrik, 1994. "Distributive Politics and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(2), pages 465-490.
    5. Sarah A Janzen & Michael R Carter, 2019. "After the Drought: The Impact of Microinsurance on Consumption Smoothing and Asset Protection," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(3), pages 651-671.
    6. Robin Burgess & Remi Jedwab & Edward Miguel & Ameet Morjaria & Gerard Padró i Miquel, 2015. "The Value of Democracy: Evidence from Road Building in Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(6), pages 1817-1851, June.
    7. Roland Benabou, 2000. "Unequal Societies: Income Distribution and the Social Contract," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 96-129, March.
    8. John Page, 1994. "The East Asian Miracle: Four Lessons for Development Policy," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1994, Volume 9, pages 219-282, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00754603 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Oded Galor & Joseph Zeira, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52.
    11. Dilip Mookherjee & Pranab K. Bardhan, 2000. "Capture and Governance at Local and National Levels," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 135-139, May.
    12. Acemoglu,Daron & Robinson,James A., 2009. "Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521671422, October.
    13. Carter, Michael R., 1988. "Equilibrium credit rationing of small farm agriculture," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 83-103, February.
    14. Stephen R. Boucher & Michael R. Carter & Catherine Guirkinger, 2008. "Risk Rationing and Wealth Effects in Credit Markets: Theory and Implications for Agricultural Development," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(2), pages 409-423.
    15. De Luca, Giacomo & Litina, Anastasia & Sekeris, Petros G., 2015. "Growth-friendly dictatorships," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 98-111.
    16. Akerman, Anders & Larsson, Anna & Naghavi, Alireza, 2011. "Autocracies and Development in a Global Economy: A Tale of Two Elites," Economy and Society 115848, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    17. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James Robinson, 2005. "The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change, and Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 546-579, June.
    18. Oded Galor & Omer Moav & Dietrich Vollrath, 2009. "Inequality in Landownership, the Emergence of Human-Capital Promoting Institutions, and the Great Divergence," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(1), pages 143-179.
    19. Ross, D. & Sabot, R. & Birdsall, N., 1995. "Inequality and Growth Reconsidered," Center for Development Economics 142, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    20. Birdsall, Nancy & Ross, David & Sabot, Richard, 1995. "Inequality and Growth Reconsidered: Lessons from East Asia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 9(3), pages 477-508, September.
    21. repec:idb:brikps:66098 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Tom Krebs, 2003. "Human Capital Risk and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 709-744.
    23. Carter, Michael R. & Zimmerman, Frederick J., 2000. "The dynamic cost and persistence of asset inequality in an agrarian economy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 265-302, December.
    24. Liliana Rojas-Suárez & Nancy Birdsall & Moisés Naím & Eduardo Lora & Estelle James & Enrique V. Iglesias & Michael Gavin & Richard H. Sabot & Nora Lustig & Juan Luis Londoño & René Cortázar & Carol Gr, 1998. "Beyond Tradeoffs: Market Reform and Equitable Growth in Latin America," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 66098 edited by Nancy Birdsall & Richard H. Sabot & Carol Graham, February.
    25. Janzen, Sarah A. & Carter, Michael R., 2013. "The Impact of Microinsurance on Consumption Smoothing and Asset Protection: Evidence from a Drought in Kenya," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 151141, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    26. Christopher B. Barrett & Michael R. Carter, 2013. "The Economics of Poverty Traps and Persistent Poverty: Empirical and Policy Implications," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(7), pages 976-990, July.
    27. repec:cep:stieop:45 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Aoki, Masahiko & Kim, Hyung-Ki & Okuno-Fujiwara, Masahiro (ed.), 1998. "The Role of Government in East Asian Economic Development: Comparative Institutional Analysis," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198294917.
    29. Kiminori Matsuyama, 2005. "Emergent Class Structure," Discussion Papers 1407, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
    30. Denis COGNEAU, 2012. "The Political Dimension Of Inequality During Economic Development," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 35, pages 11-36.
    31. Kiminori Matsuyama, 2006. "The 2005 Lawrence R. Klein Lecture: Emergent Class Structure," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 47(2), pages 327-360, May.
    32. Edward L. Glaeser & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Do Institutions Cause Growth?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 271-303, September.
    33. Rodrik, Dani, 1994. "King Kong Meets Godzilla: The World Bank and The East Asian Miracle," CEPR Discussion Papers 944, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    34. Adam Przeworski & Fernando Limongi, 1993. "Political Regimes and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 51-69, Summer.
    35. Eswaran, Mukesh & Kotwal, Ashok, 1986. "Access to Capital and Agrarian Production Organisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(382), pages 482-498, June.
    36. A. Dixit, 1997. "Economists as Advisers to Politicians and to Society," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 225-230, November.
    37. Matthias Doepke & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2005. "Social Class and the Spirit of Capitalism," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 516-524, 04/05.
    38. Kiminori Matsuyama, 2011. "Imperfect Credit Markets, Household Wealth Distribution, and Development," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 339-362, September.
    39. Pierson, Paul, 2000. "Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 94(2), pages 251-267, June.
    40. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    41. Carter, Michael R. & Barham, Bradford L., 1996. "Level playing fields and laissez faire: Postliberal development strategy in inegalitarian agrarian economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(7), pages 1133-1149, July.
    42. repec:bla:revinw:v:46:y:2000:i:3:p:267-87 is not listed on IDEAS
    43. Craig McIntosh & Alexander Sarris & Fotis Papadopoulos, 2013. "Productivity, credit, risk, and the demand for weather index insurance in smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(4-5), pages 399-417, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michuda, Aleksandr, 2018. "Political Contributions and Land Reform Delay: The Case of South Africa," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274365, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:esx:essedp:764 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Nobuhiro Mizuno & Katsuyuki Naito & Ryosuke Okazawa, 2017. "Inequality, extractive institutions, and growth in nondemocratic regimes," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 115-142, January.
    3. Martin Ravallion, 2013. "The Idea of Antipoverty Policy," NBER Working Papers 19210, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Marrero, Gustavo A. & Rodríguez, Juan G., 2013. "Inequality of opportunity and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 107-122.
    5. Easterly, William, 2007. "Inequality does cause underdevelopment: Insights from a new instrument," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 755-776, November.
    6. Shinhye Chang & Rangan Gupta & Stephen M. Miller, 2018. "Causality Between Per Capita Real GDP and Income Inequality in the U.S.: Evidence from a Wavelet Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 269-289, January.
    7. Zhang, Lei, 2008. "Political economy of income distribution dynamics," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 119-139, August.
    8. López, Ramón & Islam, Asif, 2011. "Fiscal spending for economic growth in the presence of imperfect markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 8709, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Antonio Navas-Ruiz, 2008. "On Trade Openness, Institutional Change and Economic Growth," Working Papers halshs-00326394, HAL.
    10. Loayza, Norman & Rigolini, Jamele & Llorente, Gonzalo, 2012. "Do Middle Classes Bring Institutional Reforms?," IZA Discussion Papers 6430, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Elias Papaioannou & Gregorios Siourounis, 2008. "Democratisation and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(532), pages 1520-1551, October.
    12. Asplund, Rita, 2004. "A Macroeconomic Perspective on Education and Inequality," Discussion Papers 906, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    13. Loayza, Norman & Rigolini, Jamele & Llorente, Gonzalo, 2012. "Do middle classes bring about institutional reforms?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 440-444.
    14. Furquim, Lilian de Toni & Garcia, Fernando, 2001. "Inequality and economic growth in Latin," Textos para discussão 104, FGV EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).
    15. Christopher Cramer, 2000. "Inequality, Development and Economic Correctness," Working Papers 105, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    16. Graziella Bertocchi, 2011. "The Vanishing Bequest Tax: The Comparative Evolution Of Bequest Taxation In Historical Perspective," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 107-131, March.
    17. Grossmann, Volker, 2008. "Risky human capital investment, income distribution, and macroeconomic dynamics," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 19-42, March.
    18. Vos, Rob & Frenkel, Roberto & Ocampo, José Antonio & Palma, José Gabriel & Marfán, Manuel & Ros, Jaime & Taylor, Lance & Correa, Nelson & Cimoli, Mario, 2005. "Beyond Reforms: Structural Dynamics and Macroeconomic Vulnerability," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 347.
    19. Ricardo Fort, 2007. "Land inequality and economic growth: a dynamic panel data approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 37(2‐3), pages 159-165, September.
    20. Arne Bigsten & Jörgen Levin, 2001. "Growth, Income Distribution, and Poverty," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2001-129, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Martin Ravallion, 2012. "Why Don't We See Poverty Convergence?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 504-523, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty traps; political economy; inequality; lobby formation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • Q1 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1259. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion-papers/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.