Date of Award

1-13-2008

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Economics

First Advisor

Dr. Jorge L. Martinez-Vazquez - Chair

Second Advisor

Dr. Charles R. Hankla

Third Advisor

Dr. Mary Beth Walker

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Felix K. Rioja

Abstract

This dissertation attempts to examine the effect of urbanization on poverty reduction outcomes by considering various dimensions of poverty and channels of reducing poverty. First, we develop a theoretical model in order to infer a relationship between urbanization and poverty reduction outcomes. Specifically, it shows an optimal level of urbanization to properly allocate basic public infrastructure and promote pro-poor growth. Second, we conduct empirical analysis on international data to examine the testable hypotheses that are derived from the theoretical model. Further, we explore the “channeled effects” of urbanization on basic education and health by the IV estimation and on productivity by the dynamic panel GMM estimation. As the theoretical model suggests, our results exhibit the statistically significant relationship in a non-linear form between urbanization and poverty. In addition, we explore the impact of urbanization on poverty reduction outcomes in different regions in order to see the various magnitudes of urbanization effects among regions.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/1061477

Included in

Economics Commons

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