부산대학교 도서관

Beyond the financial and emotional hardships involved, a weakened middle class can threaten the fabric of society and its democratic institutions. As Kapsos and Bourmpoula (2013, 1) note, “one of the sharpest divides between developed and developing economies is that in the former, middle class status is the norm, with a reasonable standard of living enjoyed by the bulk of the population.” What has been called the “middle class consensus,” based on narrowing strong class differences, is the point of departure for social peace, and the consolidation of democracy and investment in human capital (Easterly 2001). In this regard, several studies have highlighted the link between middle class values, economic growth, and the demand for transparent and democratic public and private institutions (Amoranto et al. 2010).