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Poverty reduction during the rural-urban transformation: the role of the missing middle

Luc Christiaensen and Yasuyuki Todo

No 6445, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: As countries develop, they restructure away from agriculture and urbanize. But structural transformation and urbanization patterns differ substantially, with some countries fostering migration out of agriculture into rural off farm activities and secondary towns, and others undergoing rapid agglomeration in mega cities. Using cross-country panel data for developing countries spanning 1980-2004, the analysis in this paper finds that migration out of agriculture into the missing middle (the rural nonfarm economy and secondary towns) yields more inclusive growth patterns and faster poverty reduction than agglomeration in mega cities. This suggests that patterns of urbanization deserve much more attention when striving for faster poverty reduction.

Keywords: Rural Poverty Reduction; Achieving Shared Growth; Regional Economic Development; ICT Applications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-05-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Poverty Reduction During the Rural–Urban Transformation – The Role of the Missing Middle (2014) Downloads
Working Paper: Poverty Reduction during the Rural-Urban Transformation - The Role of the Missing Middle (2009) Downloads
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