Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Two articles on development

Daniel Little in Alleviating rural poverty:
"We need to put the poor first. However, I also believe that our ability to achieve this goal is highly sensitive to the distributive structures and property systems that exist in poor countries. The property institutions of developing countries have enormous impact on the full human development of the poor. As a result, ethically desirable human development goals are difficult to attain within any social system in which the antecedent property relations are highly stratified and in which political power is largely in the hands of the existing elites."
He goes on to give the example of distribution of benefits during the green revolution in Malayasia. More detailed discussion in Institutions,Inequality and Well-being Distributive Determinants of Rural Development
Abstract of Is Relative Size of Minority Population Linked to Underdevelopment? by Mohd Sanjeer Alam:
"West Bengal provides a good context to examine whether the relative size of a minority population is linked to underdevelopment. The association between the size of the Muslim population and deficiency in social and physical infrastructure remains consistent at all levels in the state. No matter what the scale or context, the relative size of the Muslim population is inversely associated with the availability of amenities, a pattern that defies theoretical expectations and calls for further investigation."

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