Overview
The recent interest in the development processes of BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) has been triggered by their high growth performance, but their political and social backgrounds are entirely different. This book traces the economic history of BRIC countries to understand their economic and social institutions. The only common theme in this growth story is the high levels of income disparities and poverty that are observed even during the high growth decades. In order to understand the interaction between economic growth, income inequality and poverty, the book develops a theoretical framework that incorporates a mechanism of uniform income transfers in a growth model, where economic growth is the result of accumulation. Income transfer mechanism operates in all countries in the form of a progressive taxation system, pension funds, governments anti-poverty programs, employment guarantee schemes, land reforms, etc. It is not necessarily true that such income transfers would invariably reduce growth rates.
