| Most explanations of the effects of economic development on inequality emphasize general structural features of the development process. Focusing on urban inequality as a critical component of overall inequality in the less developed countries, we argue that a specific factor, the flow of rural/urban migration, plays a potentially significant causal role. The direct effects of rural/urban migration on urban inequality have not been systematically studied in the literature. We argue that these effects depend critically on the cause of migration (i.e., rural push vs. urban pull), and on the socio-economic characteristics of the migrants. We hypothesize that urban inequality is increased when rural/urban migration is caused by rural push and reduced when it is caused by urban pull.;We then test these models with detailed disaggregated data from the Iranian development experience. Characterized by a land reform program and by capital-intensive industrialization policies, the Iranian case provides suitable ground to examine our hypotheses. This we do by means of a cross-sectional econometric analysis of 21 rural areas and 57 urban centers for the years 1966 and 1976.;Our findings generally support our hypotheses and confirm (a) the separate and significant impact of rural/urban migration on urban inequality and (b) the significance of distinguishing between the causes of migration and between the socio-economic origins of different migrant groups. In addition our findings underline the overall significance of rural push migration, and the associated increase in urban inequality, in the specific case of the Iranian development experience.;We formulate a model of migration capable of distinguishing between rural push and urban pull, and a model of urban inequality that takes into account the effects of migration as well as the effects of the overall industrialization process. In studying the effects of industrialization, as distinct from those of migration, on urban inequality, we distinguish among effects arising from the degree of capital intensity, market power, and aggregate concentration of capital. We hypothesize that increases in each tends to increase urban inequality. |
