Dual economy

An economy comprising two very different systems, and found in many developing countries where an advanced economy co-exists with a traditional economy and the two have very little contact with each other. In many less developed countries, a subsistence system operates side by side with, but quite independently of, cash cropping. This is a result of uneven development. The concept also applies to more developed economies, where core regions with large-scale, thriving industries compare with their less developed peripheries: northern Italy and the Mezzogiorno are often quoted as an example.

Certain geographers dislike the concept, arguing that it is too simplistic; why should there be only two elements, and are they necessarily completely distinct?

Part of a series on

Economic systems

Ideological systems

Anarchist · Capitalist Communist · Corporatist Fascist · Georgist Islamic · Laissez-faire Market socialist · (Neo-) Mercantilist Participatory Protectionist · Socialist Syndicalist · Third Way

Sectors and systems

Closed (Autarky) · Digital Dual · Gift · Informal Market · Mixed · Natural Open · Planned · Subsistence Underground · Virtual

Other types of economies

Anglo-Saxon · Feudal Global · Hunter-gatherer Information Newly industrialized country Palace · Plantation Post-capitalist · Post-industrial Social market · Socialist market Token · Traditional Transition · Barter

Business and economics portal

v • d • e

A dual economy is the existence of two separate economic systems within one country. Dual economies are common in less developed countries, where one system is geared to local needs and another to the global export market.

Dual economies need not be across economic sector boundaries. An example of a dual economy within the same sector is a modern plantation or other commercial agricultural entity operating in the midst of traditional cropping systems.

A dual economy involves two different sectors of a country growing at different rates.

This economics or finance-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)