Search

Showing total 4 results
Start Over Topic economic development Region africa Region latin america
4 results

1. The global significance of national inequality decline.

Author

Simson, Rebecca and Savage, Mike

Subjects
*EQUALITY, *INCOME inequality, *ECONOMIC development, DEVELOPING countries
Abstract

Since the 1980s, inequality has been rising in Europe, North America and parts of Asia. How does our understanding of global inequality dynamics change if coverage is extended to the rest of the developing world? To rebalance the perspective on global inequality trends, this paper surveys data and literature on recent inequality trends in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It finds that in these regions there are more countries with falling than rising inequality over the past 20 years, as measured by Ginis of income or consumption inequality. At the global level, therefore, there are signs of inequality convergence, as inequality has been falling in countries with high inequality in the 1990s (particularly Latin America), and rising in historically low-inequality countries. We discuss the political and economic drivers of inequality decline in countries with a steady fall in the Gini. This suggests some common trends across the globe, including the role of democratisation, the rise of new social movements, and the expansion of education and social safety nets and favourable commodity prices, in reducing income disparities. This paper calls for more country-level comparisons of inequality trends, to highlight the multiplicity of paths in this latest phase of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2020
Full Text
View/download PDF

2. Impetus and Constraint: The Effects of Hegemony on Economic Development.

Author

Agress, Renee B., Jungblut, Bernadette M. E., and Sacko, David H.

Subjects
*HEGEMONY, *ECONOMIC development, *NATIONAL income, *COMPUTER software
Abstract

This paper examines the impact of hegemonic governance on economic development, measured in terms of gross national income (GNI) per capita and exports as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). Specifically, we test two sets of competing hypotheses drawn from neo-liberal institutionalist ?Washington Consensus? and world systems scholarship to address the question: does hegemonic power increase ? or decrease ? economic development? We utilize King?s Amelia software to address the grievous missing data issues in the World Bank?s World Development Indicators 2002 data collection. We also use comprehensive, multidimensional indicators (from Sacko 2003) to conduct a cross-national, cross-time, empirical investigation of the effects of hegemonic power of the United States (1960-1992) on economic development in five (5) regions: Latin America, Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. We find that for the Latin American region, hegemonic power has a statistically significant negative effect on GNI per capita across all of our model specifications. Hegemonic power, however, has no statistically significant effect on GNI per capita in the Middle East and North Africa region, the South Asia region, or the sub-Saharan Africa region. For the Latin American region, hegemonic power also has a statistically significant negative effect on exports as a percentage of GDP. In contrast, hegemonic power has a statistically significant positive effect on exports as a percentage of GDP in the Middle East and North Africa region and the sub-Saharan Africa region. Thus, while, in Latin America, we find some support for Wallerstein?s world systems theory and the work of scholars focused on the deleterious effects of hegemony (neo-imperialism), we also find support for the neo-liberal institutionalist / Washington Consensus hypothesis that hegemony can serve to augment economic development ? at least in the Middle East and North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2004

3. Modernization, Dependency, and the State in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Author

Pattnayak, Satya R.

Subjects
*INDUSTRIALIZATION, *ECONOMIC development, *DEPENDENCY (Imperialism)
Abstract

A regression analysis of 92 Asian, African, and Latin American countries during 1970-85 produced the following results: (1) The effect of external debt on industrial growth is positive and statistically significant at high levels of state coercive capacity. (2) This effect is negative and statistically significant at low levels of state coercive capacity. (3) At middle levels of state coercive capacity external debt registered no effect. Based on these findings this paper puts forward the following three arguments: First, the "modernization" hypothesis of a positive relationship between external debt and industrial growth is more likely if state institutions are strong and capable. Second, the "dependency" hypothesis of a negative relationship between external debt and industrial growth is more likely when state institutions are weak and relatively incapacitated. Finally therefore, these two perspectives may be studied as special cases of a grander theory of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
1996
Full Text
View/download PDF

4. Democracy, Corruption and Socio-Economic Development: A Comparison between Africa and Latin America.

Author

Stockemer, Daniel

Subjects
*DEMOCRACY, *ECONOMIC development, *POLITICAL corruption
Abstract

Researchers have frequently studied the effect of democracy on economic and social development and, for the most part, have only found indirect and relatively weak positive effects between the two indicators. Yet, many studies fall short in highlighting t ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2009