Intersectoral Size Differences and Migration: Kuznets Revisited

Abstract

We offer a specific channel on Kuznets' hypothesis: intersectoral urban-rural size differences result in an intersectoral income inequality, increasing the national inequality; this, in turn, prompts an intersectoral migration, which works as an equilibriating mechanism, decreasing the inequality in due course. The theoretical predictions yield a recursive triangular system, in which we test, i) how the sectoral size differences influence the agricultural income, ii) how a change in agricultural income acts on migration, and iii) what happens to the income distribution as a result of migration. We find a very strong support for the theoretical predictions and the Kuznets hypothesis.Kuznets hypothesis, intersectoral size differences, inequality, migration