Type | Journal Article - Journal of Agricultural Economics |
Title | Patterns of rural development: A cross-country comparison using microeconomic data |
Author(s) | |
Volume | 61 |
Issue | 3 |
Publication (Day/Month/Year) | 2010 |
Page numbers | 628-651 |
URL | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1477-9552.2010.00265.x/pdf |
Abstract | This article proposes a general pattern of rural development in which increases 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 dataset to test whether such a pattern emerges. The analysis shows a strong, positive relationship between per capita income and the share of income earned from rural non-agricultural wage employment and a negative relationship between per capita income and agricultural production. |