Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Agglomeration, growth and regional equity: an analysis of agriculture versus urban-led development in Uganda
Authors:Dorosh, PaulISNI
Thurlow, James
Year:2012
Periodical:Journal of African Economies (ISSN 0963-8024)
Volume:21
Issue:1
Pages:94-123
Language:English
Geographic term:Uganda
Subjects:rural development
urban development
agricultural policy
industrial development
rural-urban disparity
External link:https://jae.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/1/94.full.pdf
Abstract:Traditional development models focus on the sector rather than location of growth. Advocates of agriculture-led strategies emphasize agriculture's strong growth linkages and potential to raise rural incomes. The new economic geography literature, however, provides theoretical support for urban industry-led development, which generates positive agglomeration effects of concentrating populations and economic activity. This debate is important for sub-Saharan Africa, where agriculture dominates but where rapid urbanization is occurring. The authors use an empirically calibrated economy-wide model with migration and agglomeration to estimate impacts of three investment strategies for Uganda, a fast growing country with wide rural-urban and regional disparities. First, the results indicate that a transport corridor connecting poorer northern regions to the rapidly growing south provides marginal benefits to northern households since northern producers are constrained by low productivity. Second, investing in southern urban centres to harness agglomeration effects accelerates national growth, but has little effect on other regions' welfare because of weak growth linkages and small migration effects. Finally, raising agricultural productivity, while less effective at stimulating national growth, generates broad-based welfare improvements. Thus, even after accounting for migration and agglomeration gains from urban-led development, improving agricultural productivity remains crucial for significantly reducing poverty and promoting regional equity in Uganda. Bibliogr., notes, ref, sum. [Journal abstract]
Views
Cover