| Description |
1 online resource (23 pages) : illustrations, charts |
| Series |
Carnegie papers |
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Working papers (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
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| Contents |
Summary -- Defining the middle class -- A confused and incomplete picture of the middle class -- The car index -- Demand for cars and growth of the middle class -- Implications for policy -- Conclusions and further considerations |
| Summary |
The swelling middle class in emerging economies has received much attention in recent years, as it well should. The implications of its rise are far-reaching, from expanding economic opportunity to transforming the political landscape in some of the world's most populous countries. Measuring the middle class, however, is no easy task. There is no widely accepted definition of what constitutes the middle class, and the commonly used income-based measures suffer from a number of deficiencies. Yet, there is an easy-to-understand and as-yet-overlooked metric available: the number of passenger cars in circulation can act as a direct measure of the middle class in developing countries. Whereas in advanced countries, even households classified as poor own cars, in developing countries, car ownership is almost synonymous with at least middle-class status. It separates those with the ability to purchase nonessentials from the wider population. Moreover, car statistics are generally reliable and frequently updated and contain information by type of car that can be used to further segment the middle class. Much can be learned about the middle class in developing countries by examining those statistics, including where and how rapidly the middle class grew in the previous year and, by examining the types of cars sold, how different groups in the middle class (lower, upper, and so on) are faring. According to the car index, many more people in developing countries have reached middle-class status than the most commonly used income measure would suggest. Moreover, data indicate that after people pass a certain income threshold, levels of car ownership rise rapidly. And with approximately 70 developing countries -- about 4 billion people in total -- near or above that threshold, the middle class is growing more rapidly than previous measures indicate |
| Notes |
Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 26, 2012) |
|
"July 2012." |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 21-22) |
| Subject |
Middle class -- Statistics
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Middle class -- Developing countries
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Middle class -- Economic conditions
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Automobile ownership -- Statistics
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Automobile ownership.
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Middle class.
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Middle class -- Economic conditions.
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Developing countries.
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| Genre/Form |
Statistics.
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Ali, Shimelse
|
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Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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