Cali, Massimiliano
(2009)
Spatial aspects of the economic development process.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
In recent years the spatial dimension of economic development has attracted increasing interest in the development field. However there is still little analysis and evidence of the ways many spatial dimensions interact with other economic dimensions in the development process. This thesis aims to help filling this gap by bringing a geographical perspective into development economics frameworks. It is empirical in nature and uses data on different sub-national units from India and Uganda. The work is structured around four main papers (divided into six chapters). The first paper analyses two important aspects of the Indian urbanisation process. First it finds a U-shaped relation between rural-urban disparities in living standards and income per capita across Indian states in the Post-Independence period. Second, it shows that the urbanisation process in India has been characterised by convergence in the 20th century: smaller towns grow faster than large ones. The second paper examines the role of the agricultural sector in influencing the shape of the urban system. The analysis suggests that the elasticity of rural-urban labour supply increases both urban primacy and the urbanisation rate in Indian states during the Post-Independence period. The third paper tests for the impact of urban growth on rural poverty using a sample of Indian districts in the period 1981-1999. It finds that urbanisation reduces poverty surrounding rural areas. This effect is largely attributable to positive spillovers from urbanisation rather than to the movement of the rural poor to urban areas. The final paper examines the deteminants of rising returns to schooling in Ugandan districts during the 1990s. The findings suggest that both educational supply and demand factors influenced the wedge between skilled and unskilled labour. Moreover while trade opening reduced this wedge, pro-market reforms increasing inter-district trade raised returns to education in districts relatively abundant in skilled labour.
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