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Urbanization, urban concentration and economic growth in developing countries

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  • BERTINELLI, Luisito
  • STROBL, Eric

Abstract

We investigate how urban concentration and urbanization affect economic growth in developing countries. Using semi-parametric estimation techniques on a cross-country panel of 39 countries for the years 1960-1990 we discover a U-shaped relationship for urban concentration. This suggests the existence of an urban-concentration trap where marginal increases in urban concentration would reduce growth for about a third of our sample. Furthermore, there appears to be no systematic relationship between urbanization and economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • BERTINELLI, Luisito & STROBL, Eric, 2003. "Urbanization, urban concentration and economic growth in developing countries," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2003076, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
  • Handle: RePEc:cor:louvco:2003076
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    File URL: https://sites.uclouvain.be/core/publications/coredp/coredp2003.html
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Hardle, Wolfgang & Linton, Oliver, 1986. "Applied nonparametric methods," Handbook of Econometrics, in: R. F. Engle & D. McFadden (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 38, pages 2295-2339, Elsevier.
    5. Quah, Danny T., 1996. "Empirics for economic growth and convergence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1353-1375, June.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Maha Al-Jebouri & Ahmad F. Oran & Ghazi Al-Assaf, 2020. "The Impact of Urban Concentration on Economic Growth: An Empirical Investigation for a Sample of Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(4), pages 116-124.
    2. Gilles Duranton, 2007. "From cities to productivity and growth in developing countries," Working Papers tecipa-306, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    3. Junli Cheng & Feng Lin, 2022. "The Dynamic Effects of Urban–Rural Income Inequality on Sustainable Economic Growth under Urbanization and Monetary Policy in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-23, June.
    4. Anouba Acha Arnaud & Huang Dechun & Haihua Ying & Koffi Yao Stephane Landry, 2023. "The Impact of urbanization on banking development: Evidence from the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 22(1), pages 1-13.
    5. Sakiru Adebola Solarin, 2017. "The Role of Urbanisation in the Economic Development Process: Evidence from Nigeria," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 11(3), pages 223-255, August.
    6. Waśniewski, Krzysztof, 2012. "Local governments’ fiscal policy as a factor of urban development – evidence from Poland," MPRA Paper 39176, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Anand Sahasranaman & Luís MA Bettencourt, 2021. "Economic geography and the scaling of urban and regional income in India," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(3), pages 540-554, March.
    8. Wei Zheng & Patrick Paul Walsh, 2018. "Economic growth, urbanization and energy consumption," Working Papers 201817, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    urban concentration; economic development; LDCs; semiparametric estimations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General

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