Urbanization without Growth : A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon
To find out why African countries' experience with urbanization and sustained growth appeared to differ from that of other countries, the authors investigated the determinants of urbanization across countries over 40 years. Rather than studying individuals' decisions to migrate, they relie...
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| Format: | Publications & Research |
| Language: | en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21373 |
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okr-10986-213732021-04-23T14:04:01Z Urbanization without Growth : A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon Fay, Marianne Opal, Charlotte agglomeration economies central governments cities civil liberties civil unrest civil war country comparisons crime democracy democratic regimes economic conditions economic development economic growth economic incentives employment environmental degradation equalization expenditures growth performance growth rate health services housing housing finance income income growth income level large cities laws liberties low income countries migration national economy neighborhood per capita income political conditions political rights population density productivity public expenditures public investment public policy resource allocation roads rural banks rural dwellers rural population sanitation schools slums social conditions structural adjustment tax revenues towns trade unions transaction costs transport urban urban area urban areas urban bias urban centers urban development urban dwellers urban economics urban growth urban infrastructure urban poor urban population urbanization urbanization process wages urbanization economic growth income levels education rural-urban differentials wage differentiation informal sector urban bias democracy To find out why African countries' experience with urbanization and sustained growth appeared to differ from that of other countries, the authors investigated the determinants of urbanization across countries over 40 years. Rather than studying individuals' decisions to migrate, they relied on macroeconomic data and cross-country comparisons. A central hypothesis of their study: that individuals move (with varying degrees of ease) in response to economic incentives and opportunities. If location incentives are distorted, so is growth. The authors find that urbanization levels are closely correlated with levels of income. But urbanization continues even during periods of negative growth, carried by its own momentum, largely a function of the level of urbanization. From that viewpoint, Africa's urbanization without growth is not a puzzle. Factors other than income that help predict differences in levels of urbanization across countries include: a) income structure; b) education; c) rural-urban wage differentials; d) ethnic tensions; and e) civil disturbances. In addition, the relationship between economic incentives and urbanization is weaker in countries with fewer civil or political liberties. Factors other than initial urbanization level that help explain the speed of urbanization include: 1) The sector from which income growth is derived; 2) ethnic tensions; 3) civil disturbances and democracy (these two slow the pace of urbanization if all else is constant); 4) rural-urban wage differentials, whether they represent an urban bias or simply lower productivity in agriculture relative to other sectors. The weak relationship that this study shows between urbanization and traditionally accepted migration factors suggests that in Africa economists are overlooking part of the urbanization story. The fact that the informal sector appears to provide a significant source of income for urban migrants, coupled with the overlap between rural and urban activities, may shed light on the nature of urbanization in Africa. 2015-02-02T20:54:04Z 2015-02-02T20:54:04Z 2000-08 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21373 en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2412 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Africa |
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Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
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Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
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World Bank |
| language |
en_US |
| topic |
agglomeration economies central governments cities civil liberties civil unrest civil war country comparisons crime democracy democratic regimes economic conditions economic development economic growth economic incentives employment environmental degradation equalization expenditures growth performance growth rate health services housing housing finance income income growth income level large cities laws liberties low income countries migration national economy neighborhood per capita income political conditions political rights population density productivity public expenditures public investment public policy resource allocation roads rural banks rural dwellers rural population sanitation schools slums social conditions structural adjustment tax revenues towns trade unions transaction costs transport urban urban area urban areas urban bias urban centers urban development urban dwellers urban economics urban growth urban infrastructure urban poor urban population urbanization urbanization process wages urbanization economic growth income levels education rural-urban differentials wage differentiation informal sector urban bias democracy |
| spellingShingle |
agglomeration economies central governments cities civil liberties civil unrest civil war country comparisons crime democracy democratic regimes economic conditions economic development economic growth economic incentives employment environmental degradation equalization expenditures growth performance growth rate health services housing housing finance income income growth income level large cities laws liberties low income countries migration national economy neighborhood per capita income political conditions political rights population density productivity public expenditures public investment public policy resource allocation roads rural banks rural dwellers rural population sanitation schools slums social conditions structural adjustment tax revenues towns trade unions transaction costs transport urban urban area urban areas urban bias urban centers urban development urban dwellers urban economics urban growth urban infrastructure urban poor urban population urbanization urbanization process wages urbanization economic growth income levels education rural-urban differentials wage differentiation informal sector urban bias democracy Fay, Marianne Opal, Charlotte Urbanization without Growth : A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Africa |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2412 |
| description |
To find out why African countries' experience with urbanization and sustained growth appeared to differ from that of other countries, the authors investigated the determinants of urbanization across countries over 40 years. Rather than studying individuals' decisions to migrate, they relied on macroeconomic data and cross-country comparisons. A central hypothesis of their study: that individuals move (with varying degrees of ease) in response to economic incentives and opportunities. If location incentives are distorted, so is growth. The authors find that urbanization levels are closely correlated with levels of income. But urbanization continues even during periods of negative growth, carried by its own momentum, largely a function of the level of urbanization. From that viewpoint, Africa's urbanization without growth is not a puzzle. Factors other than income that help predict differences in levels of urbanization across countries include: a) income structure; b) education; c) rural-urban wage differentials; d) ethnic tensions; and e) civil disturbances. In addition, the relationship between economic incentives and urbanization is weaker in countries with fewer civil or political liberties. Factors other than initial urbanization level that help explain the speed of urbanization include: 1) The sector from which income growth is derived; 2) ethnic tensions; 3) civil disturbances and democracy (these two slow the pace of urbanization if all else is constant); 4) rural-urban wage differentials, whether they represent an urban bias or simply lower productivity in agriculture relative to other sectors. The weak relationship that this study shows between urbanization and traditionally accepted migration factors suggests that in Africa economists are overlooking part of the urbanization story. The fact that the informal sector appears to provide a significant source of income for urban migrants, coupled with the overlap between rural and urban activities, may shed light on the nature of urbanization in Africa. |
| format |
Publications & Research |
| author |
Fay, Marianne Opal, Charlotte |
| author_facet |
Fay, Marianne Opal, Charlotte |
| author_sort |
Fay, Marianne |
| title |
Urbanization without Growth : A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon |
| title_short |
Urbanization without Growth : A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon |
| title_full |
Urbanization without Growth : A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon |
| title_fullStr |
Urbanization without Growth : A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Urbanization without Growth : A Not-So-Uncommon Phenomenon |
| title_sort |
urbanization without growth : a not-so-uncommon phenomenon |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2015 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21373 |
| _version_ |
1764448074346790912 |