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The Emergence of Three Human Development Clubs

Author

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  • Sebastian Vollmer
  • Hajo Holzmann
  • Florian Ketterer
  • Stephan Klasen
  • David Canning

Abstract

We examine the joint distribution of levels of income per capita, life expectancy, and years of schooling across countries in 1960 and in 2000. In 1960 countries were clustered in two groups; a rich, highly educated, high longevity “developed” group and a poor, less educated, high mortality, “underdeveloped” group. By 2000 however we see the emergence of three groups; one underdeveloped group remaining near 1960 levels, a developed group with higher levels of education, income, and health than in 1960, and an intermediate group lying between these two. This finding is consistent with both the ideas of a new “middle income trap” that countries face even if they escape the “low income trap”, as well as the notion that countries which escaped the poverty trap form a temporary “transition regime” along their path to the “developed” group.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Vollmer & Hajo Holzmann & Florian Ketterer & Stephan Klasen & David Canning, 2013. "The Emergence of Three Human Development Clubs," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-7, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0057624
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057624
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    Cited by:

    1. Janina Isabel Steinert & Lucie Dale Cluver & G. J. Melendez-Torres & Sebastian Vollmer, 2018. "One Size Fits All? The Validity of a Composite Poverty Index Across Urban and Rural Households in South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 51-72, February.
    2. Wen‐Shuenn Deng & Yi‐Chen Lin & Ming‐Tien Tsai, 2018. "Polarization of life expectancy across countries: Does biological and cultural distance to the health technological frontier matter?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(3), pages 248-270, July.
    3. Alexandre Guimarães Vasconcellos & Bruna de Paula Fonseca e Fonseca & Carlos Medicis Morel, 2018. "Revisiting the concept of Innovative Developing Countries (IDCs) for its relevance to health innovation and neglected tropical diseases and for the prevention and control of epidemics," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Yannick V. Markhof, 2020. "Divide to Conquer? Latent Preference Types and Country-level Heterogeneity," CSAE Working Paper Series 2020-05, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    5. Rambla, Xavier & Langthaler, Margarita, 2016. "The SDGs and inclusive education for all: From special education to addressing social inequalities," Briefing Papers 14, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).

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