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The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary International Political Economy pp 169–182Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Global Middle Classes

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Abstract

Dayton-Johnson introduces economic definitions of the middle class appropriate to low- and middle-income countries based on income levels and occupational status. He assesses the link between middle-class growth and economic performance, particularly in developing countries. Different measures of the middle class help explain different dimensions of this link: a larger middle class can boost growth via consumption growth; a growing middle class can also fuel investment via reduced economic inequality; and middle-class politics, moreover, have complicated economic consequences. The middle class, however measured, has grown considerably in recent decades, particularly in Asia; but many such households remain vulnerable to falling back into poverty.

Parts of this chapter draw upon ideas initially developed in two earlier pieces (Dayton-Johnson 2015, 2018). I am grateful to Pía Riggirozzi, Tim Shaw, and Christopher Wylde for comments on those earlier publications, and to Henri-Bernard Solignac-Lecomte for his guidance regarding the African middle class.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Asian Development Bank (ADB) (2010) develops similar measures for Asian economies, while Ferreira et al. (2013) extends an absolute-income approach to Latin American economies.

  2. 2.

    For a more general treatment of the rise of multinational firms based in emerging economies, see Nölke (2014).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Monterey, CA, USA

    Jeff Dayton-Johnson

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  1. Jeff Dayton-Johnson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Timothy M. Shaw

  2. Bavarian School of Public Policy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Laura C. Mahrenbach

  3. Centre for African Studies, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India

    Renu Modi

  4. School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia

    Xu Yi-chong

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Dayton-Johnson, J. (2019). Global Middle Classes. In: Shaw, T.M., Mahrenbach, L.C., Modi, R., Yi-chong, X. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary International Political Economy. Palgrave Handbooks in IPE. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-45443-0_11

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