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Growing Like India—the Unequal Effects of Service‐Led Growth

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  • Tianyu Fan
  • Michael Peters
  • Fabrizio Zilibotti

Abstract

Structural transformation in most currently developing countries takes the form of a rapid rise in services but limited industrialization. In this paper, we propose a new methodology to structurally estimate productivity growth in service industries that circumvents the notorious difficulties in measuring quality improvements. In our theory, the expansion of the service sector is both a consequence—due to income effects—and a cause—due to productivity growth—of the development process. We estimate the model using Indian household data. We find that productivity growth in nontradable consumer services such as retail, restaurants, or residential real estate was an important driver of structural transformation and rising living standards between 1987 and 2011. However, the welfare gains were heavily skewed toward high‐income urban dwellers.

Suggested Citation

  • Tianyu Fan & Michael Peters & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2023. "Growing Like India—the Unequal Effects of Service‐Led Growth," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(4), pages 1457-1494, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:emetrp:v:91:y:2023:i:4:p:1457-1494
    DOI: 10.3982/ECTA20964
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    Cited by:

    1. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Tristan Reed, 2023. "Reply to: Comments on “Presidential Address: Demand‐Side Constraints in Development. The Role of Market Size, Trade, and (In)Equality”," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(6), pages 1963-1967, November.
    2. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Tristan Reed, 2023. "Presidential Address: Demand‐Side Constraints in Development. The Role of Market Size, Trade, and (In)Equality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(6), pages 1915-1950, November.
    3. Takeda, Kohei, 2023. "The Geography of Structural Transformation: Effects on Inequality and Mobility," OSF Preprints 8nfx5, Center for Open Science.

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