The Role of Middle Class in Economic Development: What Do Cross-Country Data Show?
This paper investigates the channels through which the middle class may matter for consumption growth. Using several different middle-class measures and a panel of 105 developing countries spanning the period 1985–2013, we find that a larger middle class influences consumption growth primarily throu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
WILEY
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rode.12265 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80692 |
| Summary: | This paper investigates the channels through which the middle class may matter for consumption growth. Using several different middle-class measures and a panel of 105 developing countries spanning the period 1985–2013, we find that a larger middle class influences consumption growth primarily through higher levels of human capital accumulation. There is also a significant direct effect of middle-class size on consumption growth, which is more pronounced in the latter half of the sample, the 2000–2013 period. |
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