The distributional dimension of the resource curse : Commodity price shocks and income inequality

Altres ajuts: Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICHow does high dependence on natural resources affect income inequality? Surprisingly little is known about the impact of dependence on primary goods on income distribution. Building on insights from the resource curse literature, this paper studies the relationship between income shocks through changes in commodity prices and income inequality in a panel of 80 countries from 1990 to 2016. We analyze differentiated effects of commodity price shocks depending on the type of commodity (labor vs. capital-intensive). We also study differences across world regions and explore potential mechanisms by looking at different types of inequality (pay-driven vs. capital-rents-driven). Results show that commodity price shocks have an impact on income inequality. However, this impact depends on the type of commodity and inequality

International migrations and urbanisation: 1960-2010

International migrations and urbanisation rates have seen a large increase in the last decades. Here we analyse the relationships between migrations and urbanisation by using a panel of ca 200 countries over the period 1960-2010. We describe the main global stylised facts on urbanisation and international migrations focusing on differences in these across world regions. We found that while there was a positive association between immigration and urbanisation, particularly in small and medium-sized cities, the association between emigration and urbanisation in developing countries was inverse. Both associations have become stronger over the few past decades, and our results highlight that international migration is an increasingly relevant and complementary dimension of the traditional rural-urban reallocation of workers which takes place during economic development

Agglomeration, Inequality and Economic Growth

Agglomeration and income inequality at country level can be both understood as concentration of physical and human capital in the process of economic development. As such, it seems pertinent to analyse their impact on economic growth considering both phenomena together. By estimating a dynamic panel specification at country level, this paper analyses how agglomeration and inequality (both their levels and their evolution) influence long-run economic growth. In line with previous findings, our results suggest that while high inequality levels are a limiting factor for long-run growth, agglomeration processes can be associated with economic growth, at least in countries at early stages of development. Moreover, we find that the growth-enhancing benefits from agglomeration processes depend not only on the country's level of development, but also on its initial income distribution (something, to the best of our knowledge, not considered before). In fact, probably suggesting a social dimension to congestion diseconomies, increasing agglomeration is associated with lower growth when income distribution is particularly unequal

Spatially blind policies? Analysing agglomeration economies and European Investment Bank funding in European neighbouring countries

Abstract Policies promoting development need to take into account the fact that globalisation has made space more rather than less important. To take full advantage of agglomeration economies that come with urban concentration, infrastructure plays a key role. For a long time development policies have focused on the provision of infrastructure. In this work, we analyse: first how urban concentration and infrastructure interact with each other for encouraging economic growth; and second whether policies promoting infrastructure have considered the spatial distribution of economic activity. As a case study, we focus on the European Investment Bank (EIB) projects financing infrastructures, for both the European Union and the EU neighbourhood. We perform panel data analysis considering different measures of infrastructure, and we also analyse the EIB projects. Our results suggest a relevant role of connectivity infrastructure (i.e. transport and communications) for agglomeration benefits to take place in European Neighbouring Policy countries. Our results also suggest that EIB funding in ENP countries ismostly country specific and displays no spatial dimension

Desempleo y crecimiento económico a largo plazo: el papel de la desigualdad de ingresos y la urbanización

Two of the most dramatic aspects of the current economic crisis are with no doubt the experience of high and persistent rates of unemployment and the accelerated pace at which inequalities increase. But high and persistent levels of unemployment and increasing inequality are more than a consequence of scarcer opportunities related to the crisis; they can also be negative determinants for subsequent long-run economic growth. In this work, we consider unemployment and income inequality, and interactions between both, as possible determinants of longrun growth by using cross-sectional international data. Our results suggest that: 1) while initial high unemployment rates do not seem to be statistically significant to explain long-run growth, they do have a negative and significant effect when interacting with increases in inequality. 2) When we differentiate based on levels of urbanization, increasing inequality harms growth in countries with high levels of urbanization, as well as in countries with low levels of urbanization in which there is high and persistent unemployment.Dos de los aspectos más dramáticos de la crisis económica actual son sin duda la experiencia de elevadas y persistentes tasas de desempleo y el ritmo acelerado al que las desigualdades aumentan. Sin embargo, niveles elevados y persistentes de desempleo y aumentos de la desigualdad son más que una consecuencia de oportunidades escasas relacionadas con la crisis; también pueden ser determinantes negativos para un crecimiento económico posterior a largo plazo. En este trabajo, utilizando datos internacionales de corte transversal, consideramos el desempleo y la desigualdad de ingresos, y las interacciones entre los dos, como posibles factores determinantes del crecimiento a largo plazo. Nuestros resultados sugieren que: 1) mientras altas tasas iniciales de desempleo no aparecen como estadísticamente significativas, sí tienen un efecto negativo y significativo cuando interactúan con aumentos en la desigualdad. 2) Cuando diferenciamos basándonos en niveles de urbanización, la desigualdad creciente perjudica el crecimiento tanto en países con altos niveles de urbanización, como en países con bajos niveles de urbanización donde hay desempleo alto y persistente

Do we follow the money? The drivers of migration across regions in the EU

Most immigration theories tend to highlight that migration follows wealth and economic dynamism, but is this also the case across regions in Europe? The aim of the paper is to investigate whether migrants in Europe indeed follow the money and to contrast this with a variety of potential alternative explanations, including the presence of migrants from a similar origin. The analysis is based on panel data estimations including 133 European regions over a time period of 17 years. Different lag structures have been employed in order to distinguish between short- and long-run effects. The results cast some doubt about the prominence of pecuniary factors as a determinant of cross regional migration in Europe, with little evidence to support the idea that migration follows economic dynamism. Network effects, human capital related-, and ‘territorially embedded’ innovation enhancing regional characteristics, by contrast, seem to play a much stronger role than hitherto considered

Geografia, institucions i desenvolupament: una revisió dels efectes a llarg termini del canvi climàtic

La relació entre el canvi climàtic, el desenvolupament econòmic i la reducció de la pobresa han guanyat creixent interès en els últims anys. No obstant això la majoria de la literatura existent ha tendit a concentrar-se en efectes directes del canvi climàtic en l'economia a curt termini, tot i que efectes potencials a llarg termini poden ser fins i tot més importants. Una anàlisi profunda dels múltiples efectes del canvi climàtic posa en relleu la necessitat de tenir en compte la interacció entre el canvi climàtic i diverses tendències implícites del desenvolupament econòmic per al bon disseny d'estratègies d'adaptació i de plans de desenvolupament.La relación entre el cambio climático, el desarrollo económico y la reducción de la pobreza han ganado creciente interés en los últimos años. Sin embargo la mayoría de la literatura existente ha tendido a concentrarse en efectos directos del cambio climático en la economía a corto plazo, aunque efectos potenciales a largo plazo pueden ser incluso más importantes. Un análisis profundo de los múltiples efectos del cambio climático pone de relieve la necesidad de tener en cuenta la interacción entre el cambio climático y varias tendencias implícitas del desarrollo económico para el buen diseño de estrategias de adaptación y de planes de desarrollo.The links between climate change, economic development, and poverty reduction have gained increasing attention over recent years. However, most of the existing literature tends to focus on direct, short-run effects of climate change on the economy, although potential effects of climate change on the prospects for long-run economic development may be more important. A deep analysis of the multiple effects of climate change highlights the need to take into account the interaction of climate change with other development trends for the design of sound adaptation strategies and development plans

Inequality and sustainable development: Insights from an analysis of the human development index

In this paper, we connect two lines of research in the development economics literature: the analysis of the effect and transmission channels of inequality on economic development and the discussion about the necessity for a broader measure for development. We estimate the association between income inequality and the Human Development Index and its components in a panel of 117 countries over the period of 1970 to 2010. In doing so, we find evidence for (a) a negative long‐run association between inequality and human development and (b) different short‐run associations between inequality and different dimensions of human development: a positive one with economic development but a negative one with educational outcomes, hinting at particular transmission channels. In addition, we detect (c) that those associations can be even more pronounced in countries with low levels of development, reconciling seemingly conflicting findings in the literature