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Inequality, Poverty, and Economic Shrinking: A Study of Developing Countries, 1974-2006

Smythe, Anthony LU (2021) EKHS21 20211
Department of Economic History
Abstract
Recent research suggests that it is the decline in the frequency of ‘shrinking’ episodes, and not higher growth rates, that are more important for long-term development. A growing body of literature also focuses on how income inequality and poverty affect economic growth rates, with a consensus emerging about their negative impacts. By employing a framework centred around social capabilities, this study investigates the effects of income inequality and poverty on economic shrinking frequency, as opposed to previous literature that has exclusively had a growth focus. For such, this study builds a longitudinal dataset including 21 developing countries throughout a 33-year period to demonstrate that while income inequality does not appear to... (More)
Recent research suggests that it is the decline in the frequency of ‘shrinking’ episodes, and not higher growth rates, that are more important for long-term development. A growing body of literature also focuses on how income inequality and poverty affect economic growth rates, with a consensus emerging about their negative impacts. By employing a framework centred around social capabilities, this study investigates the effects of income inequality and poverty on economic shrinking frequency, as opposed to previous literature that has exclusively had a growth focus. For such, this study builds a longitudinal dataset including 21 developing countries throughout a 33-year period to demonstrate that while income inequality does not appear to be correlated with economic shrinking frequency, poverty is highly correlated with it. This thesis concludes with the observation that fighting poverty could be of greater importance for economies trying to build resilience to economic shrinking episodes, thus potentially vital for long-term development to take place. (Less)
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author
Smythe, Anthony LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS21 20211
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Economic Development, Income Inequality, Poverty, Shrinking, Volatility, Social Capabilities, Resilience
language
English
id
9054088
date added to LUP
2021-06-24 13:18:36
date last changed
2021-06-24 13:18:39
@misc{9054088,
  abstract     = {{Recent research suggests that it is the decline in the frequency of ‘shrinking’ episodes, and not higher growth rates, that are more important for long-term development. A growing body of literature also focuses on how income inequality and poverty affect economic growth rates, with a consensus emerging about their negative impacts. By employing a framework centred around social capabilities, this study investigates the effects of income inequality and poverty on economic shrinking frequency, as opposed to previous literature that has exclusively had a growth focus. For such, this study builds a longitudinal dataset including 21 developing countries throughout a 33-year period to demonstrate that while income inequality does not appear to be correlated with economic shrinking frequency, poverty is highly correlated with it. This thesis concludes with the observation that fighting poverty could be of greater importance for economies trying to build resilience to economic shrinking episodes, thus potentially vital for long-term development to take place.}},
  author       = {{Smythe, Anthony}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Inequality, Poverty, and Economic Shrinking: A Study of Developing Countries, 1974-2006}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}