Globalization, Poverty, and Inequality Since 1980
One of the most contentious issues of globalization is the effect of global economic integration on inequality and poverty. This paper documents five trends in the modern era of globalization, starting around 1980. Trend #1: Poor country growth ra...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, D.C.
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/06/5149776/globalization-poverty-inequality-1980 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14128 |
| Summary: | One of the most contentious issues of
globalization is the effect of global economic integration
on inequality and poverty. This paper documents five trends
in the modern era of globalization, starting around 1980.
Trend #1: Poor country growth rates have accelerated and are
higher than rich country growth rates - for the first time
in modern history. The developing world economy grew at
more than 3.5 percent per capita in the 1990s. Trend #2:
The number of poor people in the world has declined
significantly - by 375 million people since 1981 -- the
first such decline in history. The share of the developing
world population living on less than $1 per day was cut in
half since 1981. Trend #3: Global inequality (among
citizens of the world) has declined - modestly -- reversing
a 200-year-old trend toward higher inequality. Trend #4:
There is no general trend toward higher inequality within
countries. Trend #5: Wage inequality is rising worldwide
(which may seem to contradict trend #4, but it does not
because wages are a small part of household income in
developing countries, which make up the bulk of the world in
terms of countries and population). Furthermore, the trends
toward faster growth and poverty reduction are strongest in
the developing countries in which there has been the most
rapid integration with the global economy, supporting the
view that integration has been a positive force for
improving peoples lives in the developing world. |
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