Poor Poverty: The Impoverishment of Analysis, Measurement and Policies

Description

This book, co-published with the UN's Dept of Economic and Social Affairs, offers a critical appraisal of the conventional measures and analysis of poverty as well as of poverty reduction policies. Despite greater efforts in reducing poverty since the early 1980s, poverty remains stubbornly high in many parts of the world. This collection argues that the mainstream perspectives on poverty and deprivation have contributed to considerable distortion and misunderstanding and that is not unrelated to ineffectual policy perscriptions. In particular it highlights the World Bank's dollar-a-day measure of poverty and exposes the inadequacies of Bretton Woods-inspired poverty reduction programmes. Cover Contents List of Tables List of Figures Acknowledgements Contributors Introduction Chapter 1: The Terrible Simplifiers: Common Origins of Financial Crises and Persistent Poverty in Economic Theory and the New '1848 Moment' Where Economics went Wrong: On Abstraction vs. Simplification Reconstructing Relevant Economics Economics Abstracted from Production: The Common Element in Financial Crises and Persistent Poverty The Challenge: Relearning the Art of Creating Middle-income Countries The Failure of Neoliberal Development Policy Increasing Returns and Synergies: Their Creation and their Destruction Conclusion: Towards 'an 1848 Moment' when Empirical Knowledge Matters Again References Notes Appendix I. Frank Graham's Theory of Uneven Development Chapter 2: Growth, Development Policy, Job Creation and Poverty Reduction Macroeconomics and External Shocks Financial Structures Economic Structure and Employment Foreign Aid Policy Alternatives Macroeconomic Policies Structural Transformation Policies International Environment Pro-Poor Policy Orientation References Notes Chapter 3: Governance, Growth and Poverty Reduction Measurement Issues The Arithmetic of Growth, Distribution and Poverty Reduction Causal Links between Growth, Redistribution and Governance Growth-Redistribution Causal Linkages Good Governance as Market-Enhancing Governance Good Governance and Growth Good Governance and Distribution Good Governance and Distribution: Theoretical Linkages Conclusions and Alternatives References Chapter 4: The Emperor's New Suit: Global Poverty Estimates Reappraised Why Does It Matter? A Brief History of the Debate The Bank's Concept of Global Consumption Poverty The Recent Revision The Choice of the IPL: Is it Reflective of Perceptions in Poor Countries? Does the Revision of the IPL Raise or Lower It in Countries, and Why Does It Matter? Are the PPPs Used of the Appropriate Type? The Substantive Interpretation of the IPL Is There an Alternative? The Need for Institutional Reforms References Notes Chapter 5: Poverty Reduction in China and India: Policy Implications of Recent Trends Differences and Similarities Poverty Reduction in China Increasing inequalities Changes in Poverty Incidence Indicators of Human Poverty in China Poverty Reduction Strategies in China Poverty Reduction in India Income Inequality and Poverty in India Human Poverty in India Factors Behind the Poverty Trends in India Conclusion References Notes Chapter 6: The Bottom of the Pyramid Strategy for Reducing Poverty: A Failed Promise The Poor as Value-Conscious Consumers Empirical Evidence Poverty and Alcohol Whitening Cream The Poor as an Attractive Market The Poor as Entrepreneurs BOP Proposition Under-Emphasizes the Role of the State Conclusion References Notes Chapter 7: How Effective is Microfinance as a Poverty Reduction Tool? The State of the Debate Impacts on Poverty Reduction Returns to Investment and Interest Rates Explaining the Expansion of Microfinance Assessing the Contributions of Microfinance Concluding Remarks Appendix: Employment Generation as a Poverty Reduction Strategy: Lessons of History References Notes Chapter 8: Property Rights for Poverty Reduction? Property and Poverty Changing Property Rights in Plural Legal Systems Implications for Strengthening the Property Rights of the Poor References Note Chapter 9: How Cash Transfers Promote Work and Economic Security Economic Insecurity and Social Justice Principles Types of Income Support Scheme Policy Evaluation Principles Non-Cash Transfers Food Aid Vouchers and Food Stamps Cash Transfers Cash Transfers in Emergency and Development Aid Conditional Cash Transfers CCTs: Income Conditional on School Attendance Targeted, Selective Cash Transfers: Disability Grants Universalistic Unconditional Cash Transfers: Social Pensions Concluding Remarks References Notes Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y