Global project 931-1134 · 1975 · Oklahoma State University

Whether rural development results in a redistribution of income in favor of the poor is an unresolved question in the development literature. This study approaches this question by analyzing the use of existing economic models to evaluate the impact of rural development and allied income redistribution programs in LDCs. In part one, two-sector models of economic dualism are discussed in regard to their implications for improving income distribution between agricultural and nonagricultural sectors and for agricultural development policy. These models, and especially that of Mellor-Lele, imply that as technology stimulates agricultural growth and the increased agricultural output that results is consumed by agricultural labor, there will occur a decrease in marketable surplus which decreases employment opportunities in the nonagricultural sector. What is needed, therefore, is a balanced-growth strategy emphasizing both agricultural development through technology and investment in the nonagricultural sector. In part two, the use of quantitative techniques to measure the effects of changes in the size distribution of income is examined. The total impact as reflected by the savings and

Source: DEC abstract, PN-AAG-784 (1975). The source's own text.