Publication: The Rise of the Middle Class and Economic Growth in ASEAN
Date
2017-05
ISSN
Published
2017-05
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper presents estimates of the
relationship between the share of income accruing to the
middle class and gross domestic product per capita of
economies from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The increase in gross domestic product per capita that these
economies experienced during 1970–2010 significantly
contributed to a higher share of income accruing to the
middle class. The impact of the rise of the middle class on
economic growth depends on the countries' initial level
of gross domestic product per capita. In the majority of
these countries, a rise of the middle class that is
unrelated to gross domestic product per capita growth would
have had a significant negative effect on economic growth,
based on the values of the countries' gross domestic
product per capita in 1970. In contrast, for recent values
of gross domestic product per capita, a rise of the middle
class would positively contribute to growth in gross
domestic product per capita. The paper shows that human
capital accumulation is an important channel through which a
rise of the middle class affects economic growth.
Citation
“Brueckner, Markus; Dabla-Norris, Era; Gradstein, Mark; Lederman, Daniel. 2017. The Rise of the Middle Class and Economic Growth in ASEAN; The Rise of the Middle Class and Economic Growth in ASEAN. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8068. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/26760 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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