Patterns of Rural Development: A Cross-Country Comparison Using Microeconomic Data

Paul Winters, Timothy Essam, Benjamin Davis, Alberto Zezza (), Calogero Carletto and Kostas Stamoulis
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Paul Winters: American University Washington, DC USA
Timothy Essam: University of Maryland, MD USA
Benjamin Davis: Agricultural and Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization
Calogero Carletto: World Bank Washington, DC, USA
Kostas Stamoulis: Agricultural and Development Economics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization

No 08-06, Working Papers from Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA)

Abstract: This article proposes a general pattern of rural development in which rises in per capita income are associated with a decline in the importance of agricultural production and a rise in the importance of non-agricultural income sources. Following the approach to examining Engel’s Law, we use data from 15 developing countries and a merged data set to test whether such a pattern emerges. The analysis shows a strong, positive relationship between rising per capita income and the share of income earned from rural non-agricultural activities and a negative relationship between per capita income and agricultural production.

Keywords: Rural development patterns; structural transformation; rural nonfarm activities; livelihooods; cross country analysis. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O12 O13 O57 Q12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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