Should the Kuznets effect be relied on to induce equalizing growth: Evidence from post-1950 development

The large body of cross-sectional statistical research assessing (a) Kuznets inverted-U for less-developed countries (LDCs), and (b) a turning point, is analyzed. An alternative methodology is presented. Those countries which started in 1950 well below the ''turning point'' in RGDP and which reached an RGDP well above the ''turning point'' by 1980 are utilized as key cases. Income distribution data and assessments from individual country experts are combined with historical-comparative microanalyses for each key case - Brazil, Costa Rica, Greece, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey - to construct patterns of income distribution during this crucial growth period. It is demonstrated that the jury is still very much out on the Kuznets inverted-U for LDCs, and the notion of a turning point should be rejected. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd