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Inequality and agricultural structural change: Evidence from macro and microdata, 1950-present

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  • Matthew Fisher-Post

Abstract

Since 1950, agricultural productivity has been increasing even as labourers leave agriculture. However, while average productivity of the sector has been converging, within-sector inequality has been increasing. Agricultural income inequality is still less than overall income inequality, but it measures significantly higher when we use higher-quality and more comprehensive survey data. This means not only to observe the entirety of household farm income, but also to measure the magnitude of capital income and corporate profits in the sector.

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  • Matthew Fisher-Post, 2025. "Inequality and agricultural structural change: Evidence from macro and microdata, 1950-present," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2025-5, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2025-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anand, Sudhir & Kanbur, S. M. R., 1993. "The Kuznets process and the inequality--development relationship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 25-52, February.
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    Keywords

    Agriculture; Structural change; Inequality;
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