The developing world's bulging (but vulnerable) "middle class"

The "developing world's middle class" is defined here as those who are not poor when judged by the median poverty line of developing countries, but are still poor by US standards. The "Western middle class" is defined as those who are not poor by US standards. Although barely 80 million people in the developing world entered the Western middle class over 1990-2002, economic growth and distributional shifts allowed an extra 1.2 billion people to join the developing world's middle class. Four-fifths came from Asia, and half from China. Most of the new entrants remained fairly close to poverty, with incomes now bunched up just above $2 a day. The vulnerability of this new middle class to aggregate economic contractions is evident in the fact that one in six people in the developing world live between $2 and $3 per day. Over time, the developing world has become more sharply divided between countries with a large middle class and those with a relatively small one, with Africa prominent in the latter group. Poor people in countries with smaller middle classes may well be more exposed to slowing economic growth.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Ravallion, Martin
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	2009-01-01
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCE, ABSOLUTE POVERTY, ABSOLUTE TERMS, ABSOLUTE VALUE, AGGREGATE POVERTY, AID EFFECTIVENESS, ANNUALIZED CHANGE, AVERAGE GROWTH, AVERAGE GROWTH RATE, BASIC NEEDS, CHANGES IN POVERTY, CHINESE POPULATION, CITIZENS, CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA, COUNTERFACTUAL, COUNTRY LEVEL, CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISONS, CROSS-COUNTRY DIFFERENCES, CULTURAL CHANGE, CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION, CURRENT POVERTY, DATA SET, DENSITY FUNCTION, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRY, DEVELOPING WORLD, DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS, DEVELOPMENT GOALS, DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS, DISTRIBUTIONAL CHANGE, DISTRIBUTIONAL CHANGES, DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECT, DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS, ECONOMIC CONTRACTION, ECONOMIC CONTRACTIONS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, ECONOMIC RESEARCH, ECONOMIC REVIEW, ECONOMICS, ECONOMICS LETTERS, EMPIRICAL ESTIMATES, EMPIRICAL FINDINGS, EMPIRICAL RESULTS, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, EXTREME POVERTY, FALLING POVERTY, FEWER PEOPLE, FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY, FINANCIAL CRISIS, GINI INDEX, GLOBAL MARKETS, GLOBAL POVERTY, GROWING ECONOMY, GROWTH EFFECT, GROWTH ELASTICITY, GROWTH PROCESS, GROWTH PROSPECTS, GROWTH RATES, GROWTH REGRESSIONS, HETEROSKEDASTICITY, HIGH GROWTH, HIGH INEQUALITY, HIGH INEQUALITY COUNTRIES, HIGH POVERTY, HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, INCOME GROWTH, INCOME GROWTH RATE, INCOME LEVEL, INCOME LEVELS, INCOMES INCREASE, INEQUALITY INDEX, INEQUALITY MEASURE, INEQUALITY MEASUREMENT, LEVEL OF POVERTY, LOG GINI, MEAN CHANGE, MEAN CONSUMPTION, MEAN INCOME, MEAN INCOMES, MEASUREMENT ERROR, MEASUREMENT ERRORS, MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY, MEDIAN POVERTY, MIDDLE CLASS, MIDDLE CLASS CONSENSUS, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, NATIONAL ACCOUNTS, NATIONAL COUNCIL, NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS, NATIONAL POVERTY, NATIONAL POVERTY LINES, NEGATIVE COEFFICIENT, NEGATIVE CORRELATION, NEGATIVE VALUE, NUMBER OF PEOPLE, POLARIZATION MEASURES, POLICY REFORM, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POOR COUNTRIES, POOR PEOPLE, POPULATION GROWTH, POPULATION SHARE, POPULOUS COUNTRIES, POSITIVE CORRELATION, POSITIVE GROWTH, POVERTY INCIDENCE, POVERTY LEVEL, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY LINES, POVERTY MEASURE, POVERTY MEASUREMENT, POVERTY MEASURES, POVERTY RATE, POVERTY RATES, POVERTY REDUCING, POVERTY REDUCTION, POWER PARITY, PRIVATE CONSUMPTION, PRO-POOR, PRO-POOR GROWTH, PROGRESS, PROMOTING GROWTH, PROPORTIONATE CHANGES, PURCHASING POWER, PURCHASING POWER PARITY, RATE OF GROWTH, REDUCING POVERTY, REDUCTION IN POVERTY, RELATIVE DISTRIBUTION, RESPECT, RICH COUNTRIES, RURAL AREAS, SECTORAL COMPOSITION, SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE, SPILLOVER, URBAN AREAS, URBAN BIAS, VULNERABILITY, WORLD INCOME DISTRIBUTION,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090112143046 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4013
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