Income Distribution and Economic Development
A Case Study of the Kuznets' Hypothesis Applied to Puerto Rico
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9256536 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Felix M Cue (InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1988 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 61-80 |
| Publication date | 1988-04-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Review of Social Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-6764 • E-ISSN: 1470-1162 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00346768800000004 |
| OpenAlex | W1987584882 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 8 |
distributed in the later stages of growth. Puerto Rico has moved through the various growth stages assumed by Kuznets during the post World War II era, thus making it an ideal subject for a case study of Kuznets' view. However, previous studies of the relationship between economic growth and the income distribution in Puerto Rico have failed to include many of the elements necessary for a valid examination of Kuznets' hypothesis. Although this hypothesis is normally stated as a simple relationship between economic growth and income inequality, Kuznets formulated this relationship on the basis of a fairly complex theory of structural and demographic changes in a developing economy. As an economy devel? oped he expected broad changes to occur in the industrial structure, the location of population, and the role of government that would produce the postulated relationship between development and distribution. Moreover, Kuznets appeared to have a relatively long time frame in mind, surely one sufficient to move a country a considerable distance through the development process. The changes envisioned by Kuznets were, briefly, as follows. Initially, there are two forces at work in the developing countries that contribute to increasing inequality in the distribution of income before taxes and fiscal policies: the concentration of savings in the upper income levels, and the change in the industrial structure from agriculture to manufac? turing. However, as growth continues there are factors that counteract the cumulative effects of concentration of savings in the upper-income classes, like legislative interference and political decisions to limit the accumulation, the migration of lower-income groups, population con? trol in the upper-income classes, technological change, and the growing *0034-6764/88/0401-61/$l .50/0
Development economics · Distribution (mathematics) · Economic growth · Economic inequality · Economics · Income distribution · Income inequality metrics · Inequality · Kuznets Curve · Macroeconomics · Population · Economic Theory and Policy · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
| Citations per year | 0.14 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2019 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |