The world's two new middles: Growth, precarity, structural change, and the limitations of the special case

Andy Sumner

No wp-2016-34, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: This paper discusses the emergence of two new middles since the Cold War, namely middle-income countries and people living above absolute poverty but below a security-from poverty-line. The paper sets out what has happened. It is argued that although there has been substantial economic growth, only a relatively small group of the new middle-income countries have achieved structural transformation, and a large proportion of the 'middle' people sit precariously just above the new global poverty line.

Keywords: Economic growth; Equality and inequality; Income distribution; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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