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

Year of publication 2008

Author Paul Winters, Timothy Essam, Benjamin Davis, Alberto Zezza, Calogero Carletto and Kostas Stamoulis ;Agriculture and Economic Development Analysis Division

Product type Document

Series title FAO Agricultural Economics Working Paper

Edition 1

Synopsis (short 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 ear ned from rural non-agricultural activities and a negative relationship between per capita income and agricultural production.

Language English

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