IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jintdv/v33y2021i3p545-568.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do remote areas benefit from economic growth? Evidence from Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Daniels
  • Nicholas Minot

Abstract

One of the most universal patterns in the spatial distribution of poverty in developing countries is that the incidence of poverty is lower in urban areas than in rural areas. It is widely accepted, though less well documented, that remote rural areas tend to be poorer than areas with good market access. Furthermore, there is concern that remote rural areas may not benefit equally from economic growth. In this paper, we examine poverty trends in rural Uganda to test whether remote rural areas benefit from economic growth to the same degree as better connected rural areas. Applying a variant of small‐area estimation methods to household survey data and several Demographic and Health Surveys carried out over 10 years, we confirm that remote rural areas are poorer than better connected rural areas, but find no evidence that they have fallen further behind over this period.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Daniels & Nicholas Minot, 2021. "Do remote areas benefit from economic growth? Evidence from Uganda," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 545-568, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:33:y:2021:i:3:p:545-568
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.3536
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3536
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/jid.3536?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guanghua Wan & Zhangyue Zhou, 2005. "Income Inequality in Rural China: Regression‐based Decomposition Using Household Data," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 107-120, February.
    2. Ulimwengu, John M. & Funes, Jose & Headey, Derek D. & You, Liang, 2009. "Paving the Way for Development: The Impact of Road Infrastructure on Agricultural Production and Household Wealth in the Democratic Republic of Congo," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49292, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-766, May.
    4. Yamauchi, Futoshi & Muto, Megumi & Chowdhury, Shyamal K. & Dewina, Reno & Sumaryanto, Sony, 2009. "Spatial Networks, Labor Supply and Income Dynamics: Evidence from Indonesian Villages," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51571, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. S. Mansoob Murshed & Scott Gates, 2005. "Spatial–Horizontal Inequality and the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 121-134, February.
    6. Hyman, Glenn & Larrea, Carlos & Farrow, Andrew, 2005. "Methods, results and policy implications of poverty and food security mapping assessments," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(5-6), pages 453-460.
    7. Sahn, David E. & Stifel, David C., 2000. "Poverty Comparisons Over Time and Across Countries in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2123-2155, December.
    8. Douglas Gollin & Richard Rogerson, 2014. "Agriculture, Roads, and Economic Development in Uganda," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume IV: Sustainable Growth, pages 69-110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Luc Christiaensen & Peter Lanjouw & Jill Luoto & David Stifel, 2012. "Small area estimation-based prediction methods to track poverty: validation and applications," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(2), pages 267-297, June.
    10. David Stifel & Luc Christiaensen, 2007. "Tracking Poverty Over Time in the Absence of Comparable Consumption Data," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 317-341, June.
    11. Venables, Anthony J. & Limao, Nuno, 2002. "Geographical disadvantage: a Heckscher-Ohlin-von Thunen model of international specialisation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 239-263, December.
    12. Ndinwane Byekwaso, 2010. "Poverty in Uganda," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(126), pages 517-525, December.
    13. de Janvry, Alain & Fafchamps, Marcel & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 1991. "Peasant Household Behaviour with Missing Markets: Some Paradoxes Explained," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(409), pages 1400-1417, November.
    14. Ulimwengu, John & Funes, Jose & Headey, Derek & You, Liangzhi, 2009. "Paving the way for development?: The impact of transport infrastructure on agricultural production and poverty reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo," IFPRI discussion papers 944, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Haddad, Lawrence & Pena, Christine, 2001. "Are women overrepresented among the poor? An analysis of poverty in 10 developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 225-269, October.
    16. de Janvry, Alain & Fafchamps, M. & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 1991. "Peasant Household Behavior with Missing Markets: Some Paradoxes Explain," CUDARE Working Papers 198579, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    17. Filmer, Deon & Pritchett, Lant, 1998. "Estimating wealth effects without expenditure data - or tears : with an application to educational enrollments in states of India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1994, The World Bank.
    18. Hentschel, Jesko, et al, 2000. "Combining Census and Survey Data to Trace the Spatial Dimensions of Poverty: A Case Study of Ecuador," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 14(1), pages 147-165, January.
    19. Steven Were Omamo, 1998. "Transport Costs and Smallholder Cropping Choices: An Application to Siaya District, Kenya," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(1), pages 116-123.
    20. Van Campenhout, Bjorn & Ssekabira, Haruna & Aduayom, Dede H., 2014. "Consumption bundle aggregation in poverty measurement: Implications for poverty and its dynamics in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 150, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Bjorn van Campenhout & Haruna Sekabira & Dede H. Aduayom, 2014. "Consumption Bundle Aggregation in Poverty Measurement: Implications for Poverty and its Dynamics in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-150, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    22. Minot, Nicholas & Baulch, Bob & Epperecht, Michael, 2006. "Poverty and inequality in Vietnam: spatial patterns and geographic determinants," Research reports 148, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qin, Yu & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2016. "The Road to Specialization in Agricultural Production: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-16.
    2. Escobal, Javier, 2005. "The Role of Public Infraestructure in Market Development in Rural Peru," MPRA Paper 727, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Jing Dai & Stefan Sperlich & Walter Zucchini, 2011. "Estimating and Predicting Household Expenditures and Income Distributions," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201147, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    4. Anh Thu Quang Pham & Pundarik Mukhopadhaya & Ha Vu, 2020. "Targeting Administrative Regions for Multidimensional Poverty Alleviation: A Study on Vietnam," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 143-189, July.
    5. Bruno Morando, 2023. "Subsistence Farming and Factor Misallocation: Evidence from Ugandan Agriculture," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 37(4), pages 570-598.
    6. Melanie Grosse & Stephan Klasen & Julius Spatz, 2005. "Creating National Poverty Profiles and Growth Incidence Curves with Incomplete Income or Consumption Expenditure Data: An Application to Bolivia," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 129, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Ruben, Ruerd & Pender, John, 2004. "Rural diversity and heterogeneity in less-favoured areas: the quest for policy targeting," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 303-320, August.
    8. Steve Boucher & J. Edward Taylor, 2006. "Subsistence Response to Market Shocks," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(2), pages 279-291.
    9. Richard Mussa, 2013. "Spatial Comparisons of Poverty and Inequality in Living Standards in Malawi," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(2), pages 192-210, June.
    10. Asfaw, S., 2018. "Market Participation, Weather Shocks and Welfare: Evidence from Malawi," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277029, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Sebastian Levine & Benjamin Roberts, 2013. "Robust Estimates of Changes in Poverty and Inequality in Post-Independence Namibia," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(2), pages 167-191, June.
    12. López-Feldman, Alejandro, 2014. "Shocks, Income and Wealth: Do They Affect the Extraction of Natural Resources by Rural Households?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 91-100.
    13. Vergez, Antonin, 2007. "Agricultural Price Seasonality and Market Failure: Examining the Net Seller Household and the Net Benefit Ratio Definition," 106th Seminar, October 25-27, 2007, Montpellier, France 7911, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Zezza, Alberto & Llambi, Luis, 2002. "Meso-Economic Filters Along the Policy Chain: Understanding the Links Between Policy Reforms and Rural Poverty in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 1865-1884, November.
    15. Carlo Azzarri & Gero Carletto & Benjamin Davis & Alberto Zezza, 2006. "Monitoring Poverty Without Consumption Data : An Application Using the Albania Panel Survey," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 59-82, February.
    16. Omamo, S. W. & Lynam, J. K., 2003. "Agricultural science and technology policy in Africa," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1681-1694, October.
    17. Wondimagegn Tesfaye & Garrick Blalock & Nyasha Tirivayi, 2021. "Climate‐Smart Innovations and Rural Poverty in Ethiopia: Exploring Impacts and Pathways," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(3), pages 878-899, May.
    18. Patrick Ward, 2014. "Measuring the Level and Inequality of Wealth: An Application to China," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 613-635, December.
    19. Monica Fisher & Gerald E. Shively & Steven Buccola, 2005. "Activity Choice, Labor Allocation, and Forest Use in Malawi," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 81(4).
    20. Anderson, Kym & Kurzweil, Marianne & Martin, William J. & Sandri, Damiano & Valenzuela, Ernesto, 2008. "Methodology for Measuring Distortions to Agricultural Incentives," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 48326, World Bank.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:33:y:2021:i:3:p:545-568. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/5102/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.