A World without Farmers ? The Lewis Path Revisited

This paper questions the Lewis Path perspective of a "world without agriculture" which underpins the "structural transformation" paradigm of "modern growth." It shows that the Lewis Path is only one of four potential structural paths, and that half of the world's population is spiralling into a "Lewis Trap" with more farmers and an increasing income gap between them and other workers. After showing how land constraints and the productivity dynamics outside agriculture might prevent this population from switching to a Lewis Path, it delineates the condition of an alternative path that would not transfer the disparity problem to cities.

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Source https://hal.science/hal-00866413
Author Dorin, Bruno, Hourcade, Jean Charles, Benoit-Cattin, Michel
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 9, 2026, 14:31 (UTC)
Created May 9, 2026, 14:31 (UTC)
Identifier hal-00866413
Language en
Rights https://about.hal.science/hal-authorisation-v1/
contributor Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)
creator Dorin, Bruno
date 2013-04-09T00:00:00
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harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2025-10-01T00:00:00
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