Income Inequality Trends in Central Uttar Pradesh Districts, India

Abstract

Nearly six decades following independence, some parts of Uttar Pradesh remain extremely backward and are home to the majority of the nation's impoverished. The state has long suffered from regional inequities and inequality. Intraregional differences provide huge issues because of their compounding effects on governance and living circumstances. The Paper aims to study the growth performance and the convergence/divergence in growth among districts from 2011–12 to 2017–18 in Central Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is divided into four regions: Western region, Central region, Bundelkhand region and Eastern region. The central region had been chosen for study through Cluster sampling technique. We used two Convergence measures: Beta convergence, which relies on neoclassical growth theory, and Sigma convergence, which uses the coefficient of variation to measure the spread of per capita net income. We found a negative relationship between the two variables in estimating a regression equation linking growth to the PCNI's initial per capita income log. Growth and starting per capita net income had a statistically insignificant negative association the whole time. The levels of PCNI (Per capita Net Income) depicts inter-district disparity decline as shown by the decreasing coefficient of variation. The study offers a policy suggestion that a comprehensive policy strategy that takes into account economic, social and infrastructural element is necessary.