Does MENA's Governance Lead to Spatial Agglomeration and Disparities?

Ganiou Mijiyawa, Abdoul; Kremer, Alexander; Whitmore, Loic

Does MENA's Governance Lead to Spatial Agglomeration and Disparities?

2011

Ganiou Mijiyawa, Abdoul | Kremer, Alexander | Whitmore, Loic

In this paper the author analyze the link between spatial agglomeration, spatial disparities and political governance with an emphasis on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The agglomeration index and the urban-rural consumption ratio are used respectively as a measurement of spatial agglomeration and spatial disparities. The author distinguishes two aspects of political governance: political rights and political stability. Statistically, we find that agglomeration rate is higher in MENA, whereas the indexes of political rights and political stability are lower in MENA compared to the rest of the world and other lower middle income countries. When running the regressions, the data better fit the agglomeration model than the urban-rural consumption ratio model. Using cross-sectional data for 182 countries around the world, the author find that the political rights index is negatively and significantly linked to the agglomeration rate. Our results suggest that an improvement in MENA countries' level of political rights to the average of the rest of the world would be associated with agglomeration rate 4 percentage points lower than its average level in the region. The data also reveal an inverted-U relationship between the agglomeration rate and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, and a negative relationship between trade openness and the agglomeration rate.

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AGROVOC Keywords

accountability agricultural population agriculture debt decentralization democracy developing countries development economics econometric models economic concentration economic development economic geography economic growth economic integration exports family planning fertility food security hiv human capital income industrialization international trade inventories labour force land tenure living standards migration millennium development goals natural resources nutrition political institutions political parties political science population density public debt public expenditure public policies public sector public services rural areas rural development social development social sciences statistical analysis taxation telecommunications trade liberalization transportation urban areas urban development urban population urbanization

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Other Subjects

Economic policy; Economic research; National development; Economic opportunities; Economic review; Rural populations; Business environment; Policy research; Political process; Significant relationship; Cross-country analysis; Econometric analysis; Cross-sectional data; Negative relationship; Trade policy; Economic history; Mean value; Urbanization rate; Empirical literature; External accountability; Average level; Tax system; Inverted-u relationship; Median voter; Political rights; Political instability; Dependent variable; Investment climate; Empirical evidence; Positive correlation; Regional inequality; General equilibrium analysis; Low income countries; Governance quality; Average performance; Increasing returns; Negative link; Inequality; Macroeconomic management; Total factor productivity; Competitiveness; Policy makers; Country size; Income inequality; Regional growth; Data set; Purchasing power; Measurement errors; Explanatory variable; Political economy; Sector employment; Level of development; Cultural change; High growth; Economic activity; Policy implications; International comparisons; Explanatory factors; Gdp; Job creation; Political stability; Significant differences; Labor market; Middle income countries; Purchasing power parity; Significant effect; Progress; Low income; Foreign exchange; Country classification; National governments; Local governments; Regional differences; Gdp per capita; Citizens; Policy research working paper; Negative effect; Primate city; Governance indicators; Economic transformation; Large population; Economic performance; Policy options; Population size; Positive effect

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English

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27377

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Does MENA's Governance Lead to Spatial Agglomeration and Disparities?

2011

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