1. The Middle Class in Georgia: Quantitative Assessment, Dynamics and Profile
- Author:
- Merab Kakulia and Nodar Kapanadze
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies -GFSIS
- Abstract:
- The middle class is a key factor of stability for any country. Aristotle pointed out that the bigger the middle class – or social group between rich and poor – the more stable the society is.1 The veracity of this statement is especially clear in modern society, where the middle class acts as an engine of economic growth and social progress. In the first place, this implies that the middle class strives to accumulate human capital and savings. Secondly, it generates creative people, who speed up innovations and stir up economic activity. Thirdly, the consumer capacities of the middle class promote diversification and extension of markets, which in its turn give possibilities for using the economies of scale2. And lastly, the middle class can play a decisive role in the improvement of governance – compared with the poor, it has the capacity to demand better public services, more accountability of civil servants and support economic gross-oriented policies.3
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Georgia