世界経済・社会統計 = World development indicators

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.2307%2F3343168.pdf

Development as Freedom

"This paper provides a nuanced perspective on debates about the potential for Africa's smallholder agriculture to stimulate growth and alleviate poverty in an increasingly integrated world. In particular, the paper synthesizes both the traditional theoretical literature on agriculture's role in the development process and discusses more recent literature that remains skeptical about agriculture's development potential for Africa. In order to examine in greater detail the relevance for Africa of both the “old” and “new” literatures on agriculture, the paper provides a typology of African countries based on their stage of development, agricultural conditions, natural resources, and geographic location... More broadly, the paper demonstrates that conventional theory on the role of agriculture in the early stage of development remains relevant to Africa. While the continent does face new and different challenges than those encountered by Asian and Latin American countries during their successful transformations, most African countries cannot significantly reduce poverty, increase per capita incomes, and transform into modern economies without focusing on agricultural development." from Authors' Abstract

The Role of Agriculture in Development: Implications for Sub-Saharan Africa

Agriculture, Development, and Urban Bias

Throughout history, agriculture-led development strategies with state support programs have been essential to achieving rapid economy-wide growth, poverty reduction and structural transformation at early stages of development. Yet over the last three decades, the domestic and international policy environments have continued to discriminate against agricultural development in the poorest countries. This paper studies the causes and manifestations of this ‘urban bias’, including discrimination in domestic pricing policies and in the international trade regime, decreasing financial support from LDC governments and aid donors, and increasing neglect of agriculture in development theory and economic research. The authors conclude that urban bias remains a persistent and paramount obstacle to sustained growth and poverty reduction in the least developed countries.

Agriculture, Development and Urban Bias

"Like many developing countries, China and India followed development strategies biased in favor of the urban sector over the last several decades. These development schemes have led to overall efficiency losses due to misallocation of resources among rural and urban sectors. It also led to large income gaps between rural and urban areas. The urban bias was greater in China than in India. Indeed, official data show that both the income gap and the difference in poverty rates between rural and urban areas are much larger in China than in India. Both countries have corrected the rural-urban divide to some extent as part of reform processes. But the bias still exists. Other studies also support the idea presented here that correcting this imbalance will not only contribute to higher rural growth, but also secure future urban growth (Fan and Chan-Kang 2005). More important, correcting the urban bias will lead to larger reductions in poverty as well as more balanced growth across sectors and regions. Correcting a government's bias towards investment in urban areas is one of the most important policies to pursue." from Authors' Abstract

Rural and Urban Dynamics and Poverty: Evidence from China and India

The role of education in economic development has been recognised for quite some time in mainstream economic literature. Divergence between the private and social rate of return from education is the rationale for intervention by the state in ensuring equity in opportunity across the population. The so-called â€˜New Growth Theoriesâ€™ predict that higher levels of schooling and better quality of workforce will lead to an increase in the rate of growth, further strengthening the case for public expenditure on education. The outcome of these lines of research also has implications for the financing of education. However,the effectiveness and efficiency of resource allocation by the government has generated considerable debate, both from ideological and technical points of view. It is widely acknowledged that there is a large scope for improvement in both the level, and the quality of publicly-funded education. New institutional arrangements are being designed to address the deficiencies in incentives and monitoring, thereby improving quality.

/pdf/public-expenditure-on-education-a-review-of-selected-issues-4dri8mp2hr.pdf

Public Expenditure on Education: A Review of Selected Issues and Evidence

The dynamic rural nonfarm sector in China has been a major contributor to the country's remarkable growth, while in India the growth in output and employment in this sector has been rather stagnant. The paper argues that the observed patterns in the rural nonfarm development are the results of institutional differences between the two countries, especially in their political systems, ownership structure, and credit institutions. A review of the strengths and weaknesses of the rural nonfarm economy in China and India highlights the potentials and challenges of growth in the sector.

Anit Mukherjee

Papers

Rural and Urban Dynamics and Poverty: Evidence from China and India

Public Expenditure on Education: A Review of Selected Issues and Evidence

Rural non-farm development in China and India

FCND Discussion Paper 196 DSG Discussion Paper 23 Rural and Urban Dynamics and Poverty: Evidence from China and India