The rural exodus and the rise of Europe

Abstract

To assess the importance of the rural exodus in fostering the transition from stagnation to growth, we propose a unified model of growth and internal migrations. Using an original set of Swedish data, we identify the deep parameters of our model. We show that internal migration conditions had to be favorable enough to authorize an exodus out of the countryside in order to fuel the industrial development of cities and the demographic transition of the country. We then compare the respective contribution of shocks on internal migration costs, infant mortality and inequalities in agricultural productivity to the economic take-off and the demographic transition that occurred in Sweden. Negative shocks on labor mobility generate larger delays in the take-off to growth compared to mortality shocks equivalent to the Black Death. Deepening inequalities of productivity in the agricultural sector, like it has been done by enclosure movements, contributes to accelerate urbanization at the cost of depressed economic growth.

Digital Empowerment to Resolve the Hollow Population in Rural Areas of Heilongjiang Province

“…At the same time, the increase in unequal distribution of agricultural capacity continues to trigger an outflow of poverty from rural to urban areas. [6] On the other hand, the per capita disposable income of rural residents has been increasing year by year(Figure 3), but there is still a significant difference compared to the per capita disposable income of urban residents. The average wage gap between migrant workers and urban workers will continue to widen, [7] and the overall level will still be lower than the national rural level.…”

Perspective Chapter: Armed Conflict and Its Impact on Human Migration – The Healthcare Perspective

“…This is usually the reason for rural-urban migration from the countryside to the cities. Rural exodus contributed to the rise in European Economies [70].…”

The empirics of economic growth over time and across nations: a unified growth perspective

“…Considering the possibility that the unskilled sector reflects the primary (agricultural) sector of production, whereas the skilled sector reflects the secondary (manufacturing) or tertiary (service) sectors, which are predominantly located in urban agglomerations, the model dynamics are consistent with a narrative of urbanization. See also Baudin and Stelter (2022) for recent work on this aspect. This implies a delay in the skilled sector and hence a relatively weak substitution effect in the fertility choice.…”