Did the Green Revolution Concentrate Incomes? A Quantitative Study of Research Reports

A review of more than 300 studies on the Green Revolution published during 1970–1989 shows that about 80% of those studies which had conclusions on the distributional effects of the new technology found that inequality increased, both interfarm and interregional. This evidence diverges from the position of action agencies which support and participate in this technological strategy toward agricultural and rural development. An evaluation of the studies, using their results as data for a statistical analysis, reveals that the authors' conclusions on the question of whether income concentration increased depended on such structural and methodological characteristics as the regional origin of authors, location of the study area, methodology followed, and the geographic extension of the study area. For example, studies done by Western developed-country authors, those employing an essay approach, and those looking at a multicountry region are most likely to conclude that income inequalities increased. By contrast, work done by Asian-origin authors, with study areas located in India or the Philippines, and using the case method are more likely to conclude that increasing inequality is not associated with the new technology.