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The Dual Policy in the Dual Economy - The Political Economy of Urban Bias in Dictatorial Regimes

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Abstract

One of the most common policy obstacles in the global effort against poverty is what is termed as “urban bias” where rural residents, who constitute majority of the poor in the world, face systematic bias against their economic interests by their own governments. This paper develops a simple political economy model of urban bias in dictatorial regimes. Equilibrium outcomes relating policy outcomes with economic structure, political power, and other behavioral and structural variables are analyzed. The model shows that anti-agricultural biases can emerge in primarily agrarian societies even if there is no bias in political power between urban and rural citizens. Evidence from recent World Bank country level panel data on biases against/for agriculture provides support for the model’s prediction.

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  • Shifa, Abdulaziz, 2011. "The Dual Policy in the Dual Economy - The Political Economy of Urban Bias in Dictatorial Regimes," Research Papers in Economics 2011:22, Stockholm University, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2011_0022
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urban bias; rural poverty; dictatorship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O20 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - General
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General

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