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Inclusive growth? The relationship between economic growth and poverty in British cities

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  • Lee, Neil
  • Sissons, Paul

Abstract

There is growing concern in many developed economies that the benefits of economic growth are not shared equitably. This is particularly the case in the UK, where economic growth has been geographically uneven and often biased towards already affluent cities. Yet there is relatively little evidence on the relationship between growth and poverty in the UK. This paper addresses this gap with an analysis of the links between economic growth and poverty in British cities between 2000 – 2008. We find little evidence that output growth reduced poverty. While growth was associated with wage increases at the top of the distribution, it was not associated with wage growth below the median. And there was no relationship between economic growth and the low skilled employment rate. These results suggest that growth in this period was far from inclusive.

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  • Lee, Neil & Sissons, Paul, 2016. "Inclusive growth? The relationship between economic growth and poverty in British cities," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66806, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:66806
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    2. Guo, Di & Jiang, Kun & Xu, Chenggang & Yang, Xiyi, 2022. "Industrial clustering, income and inequality in rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Angelopulo, George, 2021. "A comparative measure of inclusive urbanisation in the cities of Africa," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    4. Chu, Lan Khanh & Hoang, Dung Phuong, 2020. "How does economic complexity influence income inequality? New evidence from international data," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 44-57.
    5. Sanne Velthuis & Paul Sissons & Nigel Berkeley, 2019. "Do low-paid workers benefit from the urban escalator? Evidence from British cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(8), pages 1664-1680, June.
    6. Julia Wardley-Kershaw & Klaus R. Schenk-Hoppé, 2022. "Perspectives on the Future of Growth," World, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-14, May.
    7. Neil Lee, 2019. "Inclusive Growth in cities: a sympathetic critique," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(3), pages 424-434, March.
    8. Peter Sunley & Ron Martin & Peter Tyler, 2017. "Cities in transition: problems, processes and policies," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 10(3), pages 383-390.
    9. Beatriz Larraz & Jose M. Pavía & Marcos Herrera‐Gómez, 2021. "Spatial aggregation and resampling expansion of big surveys: An analysis of wage inequality," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 957-981, June.
    10. Almas Heshmati & Jungsuk Kim & Jacob Wood, 2019. "A Survey of Inclusive Growth Policy," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-18, July.

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    Keywords

    Growth; poverty; cities; social exclusion; great Britain;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General

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