Ashwani Vasishth <ashwani@csun.edu> [Last Update, March 27, 2006]
Anonymous. 2002. ÒGermany Funds Poverty Reduction Programme,Ó International Trade Forum, n2 (2002): 35. [The German Government will provide E2.4 million for ITC's Export-led Poverty Reduction Programme. The funding is for a four-year period, from 2002 to 2006. Germany's contribution is part of its Programme of Action towards the UN Millennium Declaration's goal to reduce "the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by one half by the year 2015".]
Anonymous. 2002. ÒNew Approach Could Reduce Poverty,Ó Appropriate Technology, v29n2 (Jun 2002): 6. [The number of people living on less than $1 a day in the world's least developed countries will reach at least 420 million by 2015 if current economic trends continue. Currently governments in 34 of the 49 LDCs are preparing and implementing Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) as a condition for aid and debt relief. Through the PRSP, governments are taking responsibility for poverty within their borders and formulating their own strategies to reduce it.]
Anonymous. 2004. ÒBritish Aid Policy Hampering Poverty Reduction In Africa,Ó Appropriate Technology, v31n3 (Sep 2004): 6.
Ashraf, Haroon. 2000. ÒWHO Assembles Leading Economists To Study Poverty Reduction and Health,Ó The Lancet, v355n9201 (Jan 29, 2000): 386. [The World Health Organization launched a new expert commission on Jan 18 composed of 15 of the world's leading economists and economic policy makers to produce a series of studies over a two-year period to examine how health interventions could lead to economic growth and reduce poverty.]
Bigman, David & Stefan Dercon & Dominique Guillaume & Michel Lambotte. 2000. ÒCommunity Targeting for Poverty Reduction In Burkina Faso,Ó The World Bank Economic Review, v14n1 (Jan 2000): 167(27).
Birdsall, Nancy & Juan Luis Londono. 1997. ÒAsset Inequality Matters: An Assessment of the World Bank's Approach To Poverty Reduction,Ó The American Economic Review, v87n2 (May 1997): 32-37. [The fight against poverty has been adopted by the multilateral development banks as their principal objective. The contrast between multilateral banks' goals and their disappointing results suggests the need for a critical reassessment of their approach to poverty reduction. An approach reflected in the work of World Bank economists is described and, based on new empirical work, its relevance for Latin America is assessed.]
Briller, Sherylyn H. 2005. ÒPoverty Reduction in Mongolia,Ó The Journal of Asian Studies, v64n1 (Feb 2005): 188-190. [Briller reviews Poverty Reduction in Mongolia by Keith Griffin.]
Browne, Stephen & Giovanna Prennushi. 2000. ÒCutting Poverty,Ó The OECD Observer, n223 (Oct 2000): 18-21. [Despite the economic boom in the Western world, notably the United States, global poverty remains a serious problem. Across the globe one person in five lives on less than one dollar a day-and one in seven suffers from chronic hunger. True, the worldwide number and proportion of people living in extreme poverty or on less than one dollar per day declined slightly through the mid-1990s. But most of that decline was in East Asia, notably China. It is believed that poverty reduction is an attainable objective, but it should be born in mind that meeting the goal of halving income poverty by 2015 is only part of the battle. As the world's population is projected to increase to 7.1 billion by 2015, the number of poor stands to rise.]
Christiaensen, Luc & Lionel Demery & Stefano Paternostro. ÒMacro and Micro Perspectives of Growth and Poverty in Africa,Ó The World Bank Economic Review, v17n3 (Dec 2003): 317-347. [This article reviews trends in poverty, economic policies, and growth in a sample of African countries during the 1990s, drawing on the better household data now available. Experiences have varied. Some countries have seen sharp drops in income poverty, whereas others have witnessed marked increases. In some countries overall economic growth has been pro-poor and in others not. But the aggregate numbers hide systematic distributional effects. Taking both macro and micro perspectives of growth and poverty in Africa, the article draws four key conclusions. First, economic policy reforms (improving macroeconomic balances and liberalizing markets) appear conducive to reducing poverty. Second, market connectedness is crucial to enable participation in the gains from economic growth. Some regions and households by virtue of their remoteness were left behind when growth picked up. Third, education and access to land emerge as key private endowments to help households benefit from new economic opportunities. Finally, rainfall variations and ill health have profound effects on poverty outcomes, underscoring the significance of social risk management in poverty reduction strategies in Africa.]
Cordella, Tito & Giovanni Dell'Ariccia. 2002. ÒLimits of Conditionality In Poverty Reduction Programs,Ó IMF Staff Papers: Special Issue, v49 (2002): 68-86. [When donors and recipients have different preferences over budgetary allocations, conditionality helps the implementation of donor-financed poverty reduction programs. If donors cannot perfectly monitor all recipients' actions, however, conditionality entails an inefficient allocation of resources. Under such conditions, the optimal amount of conditionality varies (often not monotonically) with the recipients' degree of social commitment. Finally, if recipients preferences are not observable, conditionality can be used to prevent recipients with a weak commitment to poverty reduction from obtaining aid funds. This may, however, lead to further distortions in terms of resource allocation and to phenomena of "aid rationing."]
Crook, Richard C.. 2003. ÒDecentralisation and Poverty Reduction In Africa: The Politics of Local-Central Relations,Ó Public Administration & Development, v23n1 (Feb 2003): 77(12). [Decentralisation advocates argue that decentralised governments are more responsive to the needs of the poor than central governments and thus are more likely to conceive and implement pro-poor policies. Recent evidence from a selected group of sub-Saharan African countries is reviewed in a comparative framework that highlights factors associated with success in poverty reduction. It is argued that the degree of responsiveness to the poor and the extent to which there is an impact on poverty are determined primarily by the politics of local-central relations and the general regime context--particularly the ideological commitment of central political authorities to poverty reduction. In most of the cases, 'elite capture' of local power structures has been facilitated by the desire of ruling elites to create and sustain power bases in the countryside. Popular perceptions of the logic of patronage politics, combined with weak accountability mechanisms, have reinforced this outcome. The conclusion from these African cases is that decentralisation has not empowered challenges to local elites who are resistant or indifferent to pro-poor policies. Thus, decentralisation is unlikely to lead to more pro-poor outcomes without a serious effort to strengthen and broaden accountability mechanisms at both local and national levels.]
Dasgupta, Jyotirindra. 1982. ÒDevelopment and Poverty Reduction in South Asia: A Review Article,Ó The Journal of Asian Studies, v42n1 (Nov 1982): 105(13). [Most of the world's impoverished people live in Asia; the most rapidly developing Third World economies are also Asian. Slow growth, persistent poverty, and economic stagnation can no longer be viewed as an inherently Asiatic phenomenon. But, if the curse of the Asiatic mode of production has been fading in East Asia, southern Asia's attempts to overcome it continue to yield unimpressive results. Mass poverty remains entrenched in South Asia in spite of three decades of sophisticated approaches to economic development. What accounts for this striking difference in development in two parts of the same continent?]
de Haan, Arjan & Jeremy Holland & Nazneen Kanji. 2002. ÒSocial Funds: An Effective Instrument To Support Local Action for Poverty Reduction?Ó Journal of International Development, v14n5 (Jul 2002): 643 + [This paper discusses whether social funds can help to support local action for poverty reduction. It focuses not on the specific poverty-related projects that are supported by social funds, but the way social funds channel resources. In this context, this paper emphasizes the importance - and limitations - of the underlying poverty analysis informing the design of social funds, particularly the identification of beneficiaries. The paper describes the organizational characteristics social funds help to set up, and the relevance of decentralized organizations for community participation. The concluding section focuses on the implications of the tendency of social funds to create parallel structures.]
DeGregori, Thomas R. 2003. ÒAid and Poverty Reduction in Zambia: Mission Unaccomplished,Ó African Studies Review, v46n2 (Sep 2003): 109-111. [DeGregori reviews Aid and Poverty Reduction in Zambia: Mission Unaccomplished by Oliver Saasa with Jerker Carlsson.]
DeGregori, Thomas R. & Harrell R. Rodgers, Jr. (eds.). 1994. Poverty Policy In Developing Countries. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Dijkstra, A. Geske. 2004. ÒGovernance for Sustainable Poverty Reduction: the Social Fund In Nicaragua,Ó Public Administration & Development, v24n3 (Aug 2004): 197-211. [Like other social funds, the Nicaraguan Emergency Social Investment Fund (FISE) has been created on the initiative of the donors to alleviate the social consequences of adjustment policies. It finances small infrastructural projects in education, health, water and other sectors and focuses on poor communities. FISE accounts for approximately 11% of public investment and 48% of public investment in the social sectors. The size of FISE and its apparent permanent character raise questions of its contribution to sustainable poverty reduction and on institutional development in the country. The article concludes that there are serious doubts on whether maintaining a social fund as a separate agency enhances effective governance for sustainable poverty reduction.]
Eric Hanley. 2002. ÒThinking and Doing Things About Poverty II: The Poverty Reduction Strategy Process In Africa,Ó Progress in Development Studies, v2n1 (Jan 2002): 47-51.
Fiszbein, Ariel & Pamela Lowden, 1999. Working Together for A Change : Government, Business, and Civic Partnerships for Poverty Reduction In Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Garcia, Brigida (ed.). 2000. Women, Poverty, and Demographic Change. Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press.
Gupta, Sanjeev et al. 1998. The IMF and the Poor. Washington, DC: Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund.
Haddad, Lawrence & Michelle Adato. 2002. ÒMaximizing Benefit Transfers To the Poor: Evidence From South African Employment Programmes,Ó International Labour Review, v141n3 (2002): 203-223. [In the developing world, most best-practice national poverty-reduction strategies include workfare programmes. The programmes are typically composed of public works schemes involving the creation of physical assets at wages that do not exceed market wages for comparable unskilled work. This type of antipoverty intervention has not escaped the general scepticism encountered by targeted programmes in general. Can the programmes be sufficiently and accurately targeted to generate additional employment, rather than substitute for market-led employment? Will the administrative requirements of the programmes consume too many of the resources? Can high-quality assets be generated in a sufficiently labour-intensive way to generate enough income for the poor? To date, the data needed to address these questions have not been commonly available. This article exploits a new data set from South Africa to do so. Unemployment an poverty are major problems in South Africa. In the mid-1990s, 30% of working-age South Africans were unemployed.]
Harpham, Trudy & Lance Anelay. 1999. ÒAfter Roads and Dams: What Role for Engineers In the Poverty Reduction Strategies of Bilateral Development Agencies?Ó Journal of International Development, v11n6 (Sep/Oct 1999): 811+. [The role of engineers within the major bilateral development agencies is currently subject to change as agencies' foci converge on poverty reduction, expressed in their support for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) agreed aim of reducing by half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. The focus of development aid has shifted from the prioritization of macroeconomic growth, allied to a flawed assumption that this would filter down to the poor, to a focus on pro-poor growth that provides the poor with the necessary access to the economy and to services that meet their basic needs. Engineers perceive a risk of being marginalized within this new agenda. In many cases their reputations have been closely linked with the construction of large infrastructure projects designed to stimulate macroeconomic growth, the benefits of which were not perceived to have directly benefited the poor. This case study of a bilateral agency found that engineers have a clear role within the new agenda, and moreover that engineers were, in many cases, unfairly maligned for their previous work.]
Harrison, Glenn W. & Thomas F. Rutherford & David G. Tarr & Angelo Gurgel. ÒTrade Policy and Poverty Reduction in Brazil,Ó The World Bank Economic Review, v18n3 (2004): 289-317. [A multiregion computable general equilibrium model is used to evaluate the regional, multilateral, and unilateral trade policy options of Mercosur from the perspective of the welfare of all potential partners in several proposed agreements. The focus for Brazil is on poverty impacts. The results show that the poorest households in Brazil experience gains of 1.5-5.5 percent of their consumption, which are about three to four times the average gains for Brazil. Protection in Brazil favors capital-intensive manufacturing relative to unskilled labor-intensive agriculture and manufacturing. So trade liberalization raises the return to unskilled labor relative to capital and disproportionately helps the poor.]
Heslam, Peter (ed.). 2004. Globalization and the Good. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. [Introduction / Peter Heslam -- Becoming cosmopolitan: the dimensions and challenges of globalization / David Held -- The role of trade, aid and domestic reform in the fight against global poverty / Brian Griffiths -- Combining principle with profit: a business response to the challenges of globalization / Clive Mather -- Getting the social relations right: towards an integrated theology and theory of development / Michael Woolcock -- Preparing for a great transformation: putting human rights before money rights / Ann Pettifor -- Risk, reward and responsibility: a biblical critique of global capital markets / Michael Schluter -- The principalities and powers: a framework for thinking about globalization / Timothy Gorringe -- Offering resistance to globalization: insights from Luther / Cynthia Moe-Lobeda -- Campaigning against injustice and the appeal to self-interest / Michael Taylor -- Changing the wind: the role of prophetic witness and faith-based initiatives in tackling inequality / Jim Wallis -- Epilogue: Towards a sustainable future / Peter Heslam.]
Hoddinott, John. 2002. ÒParticipation and Poverty Reduction: An Analytical Framework and Overview of the Issues,Ó Journal of African Economies, v11n1 (Mar 1, 2002): 146+. [This paper examines the relationship between community participation and the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce poverty. It outlines a simple model that identifies three actors involved in the provision of antipoverty interventions: financiers, providers and beneficiaries. This model is used to illustrate what happens when the poor move from being passive beneficiaries to being the providers of these interventions. Beneficiary participation has the potential to lower the cost of providing these interventions. It can ensure that they more closely reflect the preferences of the population that they are designed to serve. However, this benefit is contingent on the ability of communities to engage in collective actions. In fractionalised communities, or where trust and/or social capital are weak, there is a risk that community participation may result in the capture of benefits by local elites, to the detriment of the poor. Further, we argue that the failure to delegate true decision-making authority (allowing for de jure but not de facto participation), may result in beneficiaries being reluctant to act because of concerns that they will be subsequently overruled.]
Islam, Iyanatul. 2005. ÒCircumventing Macroeconomic Conservatism: A Policy Framework for Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction,Ó International Labour Review, v144n1 (2005): 55-84. [Macroeconomic policy, as currently understood and practised in many developing countries, is mired in a "stabilization trap". It seems to be preoccupied with stability at the expense of growth and with fiscal and inflation targets at the expense of employment. The influence of global investors on policy-makers reinforces the bias in favour of fiscal and financial variables, at least in the context of developing economies (ADB, 1999). Orthodox macroeconomics also highlights the virtue of labour market flexibility rather than the importance of labour market institutions in dealing with the issue of the welfare of workers (Standing, 1999; van der Hoeven, 2000). This article argues that the empirical foundation of macroeconomic conservatism is fragile and that the intellectual momentum exists to develop a viable alternative to current orthodoxy. This would entail a renewed commitment to employment creation as a core goal of macroeconomic policy and creating "fiscal space" to sustain investments in infrastructure and human development.]
Jalilian, Hossein & Colin Kirkpatrick. 2002. ÒFinancial Development and Poverty Reduction In Developing Countries,Ó International Journal of Finance & Economics, v7n2 (Apr 2002): 97+. [Empirical investigation of the link between financial development and economic growth has established that finance exerts a significant and positive influence on growth. This paper extends this line of analysis by examining the contribution that financial development makes to poverty reduction in low-income countries. The results reported support the contention that financial sector development policy can contribute to achieving the goal of poverty reduction in developing countries.]
Johnston, Donald J. 2002. ÒDevelopment: This Time Let's Get It Right!,Ó The OECD Observer, v231/232 (May 2002): 3. [This is the year of development. The Monterey Summit on Financing for Development, the OECD Ministerial, the African Initiative of the G8 Summit and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg are all largely focused on poverty reduction and effective development assistance. A 10-point strategy, which could help them, is listed. The strategy includes: 1. Create a framework for free and equitable international trade. 2. Promote mutually beneficial flows of foreign private investment. 3. Establish a better partnership, a clearer purpose and a greater coherence and development aid. This strategy comes from a 1969 report from the Commission on International Development.]
Kiely, Ray. 2004. ÒThe World Bank and "Global Poverty Reduction": Good Policies or Bad Data?Ó Journal of Contemporary Asia, v34n1 (2004): 3-20. [This article investigates recent claims - made principally by the World Bank - that world poverty is declining, and that this decline is due to countries adopting "pro-globalisation" policies. It is argued that such claims are based on selective and very questionable evidence, as well as a technocratic approach to poverty reduction that ignores the issue of inequality. Through an assessment of the problems of measuring income-related poverty, it is argued that (i) there is insufficient reliable data for us to know what is happening in terms of poverty trends; (ii) the measurements used tend to have a bias towards recording a long-term reduction in global poverty; (iii) there is a linkage between poverty and inequality; (iv) inequality, both within and between countries, is a far more important issue than current poverty reduction discourses suggest; (v) insofar as there may be a decline in poverty, this is despite, rather than because of "pro-globalisation" policies. The article concludes by briefly suggesting that the world economy is not as benign a force as the World Bank suggests, and that capital concentration takes place through a process of "cumulative causation."]
Kyeyune, Grace & Patricia Goldey. 1999. ÒTowards Effective Poverty Reduction: A Study of Heterogeneous Groups of Poor Women In Uganda,Ó Journal of International Development, v11n4 (Jun 1999): 565+. [A social analysis of poverty and survival strategies among women in Uganda using both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques shows heterogeneity among the disadvantaged group of women. This article argues that lack of sensitivity on the part of the policy makers to real-life diversities among poor women hinders effective impact of poverty reduction policies/interventions. Various factors contribute to the existence of differences among women and this influences the various ways in which different people perceive and interpret conditions around them and struggle to put into practice notions of reducing poverty. An understanding of rural diversities and design of appropriate policies towards poverty reduction is recommended.]
Laterveer, Leontien & Louis W. Niessen & Abdo S. Yazbeck. 2003. ÒPro-Poor Health Policies In Poverty Reduction Strategies,Ó Health Policy and Planning, v18n2 (Jun 2003): 138+. [Since 1999, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have required low-income countries soliciting for debt relief and financial support to prepare a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The objective of this study is to arrive at a systematic assessment of the extent to which the first batch of interim PRSPs actually addresses the health of the poor and vulnerable. A literature study was used to design and test a semi-quantitative approach to assess the pro-poor focus of health policies in national documents. The approach was applied to the existing interim proposals for 23 Highly Indebted Poor Countries. Results show that a majority of proposals lack country-specific data on the distribution and composition of the burden of disease, a clear identification of health system constraints and an assessment of the impact of health services on the population. More importantly, they make little effort to analyze these issues in relation to the poor. Furthermore, only a small group explicitly includes the interests of the poor in health policy design. Attention to policies aiming at enhancing equity in public health spending is even more limited. Few papers that include expenditure proposals also show pro-poor focused health budgets. We conclude that our systematic assessment of a new international development policy instrument, PRSP, raises strong concerns about the attributed role of health in development and the limited emphasis on the poor, the supposed primary beneficiaries of this instrument. There is a need and an opportunity for the international development community to provide assistance and inputs as poor countries shift their policy thinking from an interim stage to fully developed national policies. This paper presents a menu of analytical and policy options that can be pursued.]
Lustig, Nora (ed.). 1995. Coping with Austerity : Poverty and Inequality In Latin America. Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution. [Structural adjustment and the determinants of poverty in Latin America / Samuel A. Morley -- Income inequality trends in Latin America in the 1980s / Ariel Fiszbein and George Psacharopoulos -- Poverty alleviation, income distribution, and growth during adjustment / Elizabeth Sadoulet and Alain de Janvry -- Five criteria for choosing among poverty programs / Margaret E. Grosh -- Argentina : social policy and adjustment during the 1980s / Luis Beccaria and Ricardo Carciofi -- Brazil : welfare, inequality, poverty, social indicators, and social programs in the 1980s / Ricardo Barros, Rosane Mendonca, Sonia Rocha -- Chile : poverty, adjustment, and social policies in the 1980s / Dagmar Raczynski and Pilar Romaguera -- Mexico : social spending and food subsidies during adjustment in the 1980s / Santiago Friedmann, Nora Lustig, and Arianna Legovini -- Peru : social policies and economic adjustment in the 1980s / Adolfo Figueroa -- Venezuela : poverty and social policies in the 1980s / Gustavo Marquez.
Lustig, Nora (ed.). 2001. Shielding the Poor : Social Protection In the Developing World. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press : Inter-American Development Bank. [Has aggregate income growth been effective in reducing poverty and inequality in Latin America? / Alain De Janvry and Elisabeth Sadoulet -- Social protection for the unemployed : programs in Latin America / Gustavo Marquez -- Heterogeneity and optimal unemployment insurance / Hugo A. Hopenhayn and Juan Pablo Nicolini -- Helping the poor manage risk better : the role of social funds / Steen Lau Jrgensen and Julie Van Domelen -- Insuring the economic costs of illness / Paul Gertler -- Coverage under old age security programs and protection for the uninsured : what are the issues? / Estelle James -- Social assistance on pensions and health care for the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean / Carmelo Mesa-Lago -- The safety net role of microfinance for income and consumption smoothing / Manfred Zeller -- Consumption smoothing and extended families : the role of government-sponsored insurance / Orazio Attanasio and Jose-Victor Rios-Rull -- Social protection for the poor in the developed world / Timothy M. Smeeding and Katherin Ross Phillips.]
Marcus, Rachel & John Wilkinson & Jenni Marshali. 2002. ÒPoverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)--Fulfilling Their Potential for Children In Poverty?Ó Journal of International Development, v14n8 (Nov 2002) 1117+. [Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are currently at the centre of development assistance and planning in many countries and donor agencies. As such, they are potentially of enormous significance for children living in poverty. Based on a review of PRSP documents, authors' experiences and other evidence, the paper explores the main policies of economic growth and social sector investment laid out in PRSPs and some likely implications for children's lives and equitable development. It examines how far PRSPs recognize childhood poverty as a priority, and the strategies' often limited commitments to tackle it. The paper reflects on changes in policy planning, budgeting and review processes associated with PRSPs and examines their potential to contribute to effective poverty reduction. It concludes that, to date, changes in these processes are the most significant contribution of PRSPs; while the potential for more effective policy is strong, much work is required by all involved before they are a comprehensive or strategic approach to reducing childhood poverty or securing the wellbeing of future generations.]
Mazur, Robert E.. 2004. ÒRealization or Deprivation of the Right to Development Under Globalization? Debt, Structural Adjustment, and Poverty Reduction Programs,Ó GeoJournal, v60n1 (2004): 61-71. [The human right to development provides a potentially powerful tool for reducing poverty and advancing sustainable development. More generally, rights-based development is gaining adherents and becoming more fully articulated and integrated into national and international development policies and practices. Yet these efforts are made in the context of globalization of economic activities which has tended to effectively negate the principles of rights-based development. The purpose here is to enhance understanding of the potential significance of human rights for human development, taking into account the larger framework established by patterns of globalization and state transformation, and the alternatives being proposed and enacted by civil society actors locally and globally. The experiences of Mozambique and Uganda are discussed to highlight the problematic nature of these economic policies and changes.]
Mestrum, Francine. 2003. ÒPoverty Reduction and Sustainable Development,Ó Environment, Development and Sustainability, v5n1-2 (2003): 41-61. [The prominent place of the chapter on poverty in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPI) is totally in keeping with the priority given to poverty reduction in the development thinking of the international community of today. The Johannesburg process did not lead to any new insights or new commitments in the fight against poverty. Section one sets out a factual comparison of the poverty chapters in Rio's Agenda 21 (AG21) and in the JPI. Section two reviews the conceptual links between poverty reduction and sustainable development, since poverty is used both as a dependent and as an independent variable. This analysis shows a shift in the function of growth as related to environmental protection. Section three explores the 'naturalization' of development thinking in its economic and social dimensions and shows how this affects the policy options for social protection. I also explain how social and environmental sustainability have become elements of risk management and how are both aimed at conflict prevention and enhanced growth. Finally, in section four three lines of action are suggested to enhance the emergence of a socially meaningful sustainable development agenda that, ideally, would make poverty reduction strategies redundant.]
Mosley, Paul. 2002. ÒThe African Green Revolution As A Pro-Poor Policy Instrument,Ó Journal of International Development, v14n6 (Aug 2002): 695+. [In opposition to a number of the presentations at the Conference, we argue that the development of foodcrop agriculture needs to be considered as a pivotal poverty reduction strategy in Africa - in spite of the sector's erratic performance which has seen a number of mini-green revolutions take off, falter and crash back to earth. We insist that for at least five reasons - the scale-neutrality of hybrid seed technology, its labour-intensity, its tendency to reduce risks, its ability to reduce the prices of poor people's basic foods and its ability to stimulate off-farm linkages - the hybrid seed revolution, partial though it has been, needs to be supported and sustained, and not dismissed as fated to fail in African conditions. We support this conclusion by two estimates of poverty impact of these new technologies - a quick and dirty estimate based on four channels of impact only (income of adopter households, labour market, consumer prices and off-farm linkages) and an estimate derived from a multi-market model of Uganda, in which about one-tenth of the poverty reduction achieved in Uganda since 1992 is ascribed to productivity change in maize and cassava. We note that a number of domestic and aid policy factors - from weak rural infrastructure and financial systems to food aid - have tended to reduce either the incentive to introduce new technologies, and/or the poverty-elasticity of their introduction. To reduce many of the different poverties from which Africa suffers, we argue, the policies responsible for the underdevelopment of its cereal crops need coordinated reform across many countries; in preparing such reform, inspiration can be taken from the policies which preceded the surge in agricultural productivity in India, Indonesia and China 30 years ago.]
Ohno, Kenichi. 2002. ÒFor Diversity In Development Strategies,Ó Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD Observer, n233 (Aug 2002): 27-29. [The World Bank is pushing its poverty reduction strategy paper as the key instrument to be used by the developing world for reducing poverty. The Millennium Development Goals and the poverty reduction strategy paper are now linked as the end and basically the sole means of achieving development, and all poor countries are required to draft strategy papers before receiving concessional funds from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Despite the renewed enthusiasm and determination, the global drive to cut poverty may go off track if a sense of balance and continuity is not maintained. The trouble with the global development strategy is that it shifts too drastically every several years to follow new trends. One key problem is that poor countries are diverse in their socio-economic structure as well as causes of poverty. A globally common framework, whether for reducing poverty or otherwise, cannot possibly serve all developing countries with different needs and aspirations.]
Peacock, Christie. 2005. ÒHow To Interest George Clooney In Goats? Thoughts On the Road From Africa To Gleneagles,Ó Appropriate Technology, v32n3 (Sep 2005): 4. [The dust has now settled and people have time to reflect on the extraordinary few weeks leading up to and culminating in the G8 Summit. The basis of the discussion was the Commission for Africa report, which made a good attempt at analyzing Africa's problems and producing a costed work plan of how to solve them. The debate, as reported by most media presented a painfully simplistic view of how to solve Africa's problems. The Gleneagles Communique mentions the need to support agriculture several times. The new DFID agriculture strategy, currently out for consultation, is entitled Productivity Growth for Poverty Reduction: an Approach to Agriculture and places agriculture at the heart of poverty reduction.]
Petras, James F. & Henry Veltmeyer. 2003. A System In Crisis : The Dynamics of Free Market Capitalism. Black Point, Nova Scotia : Fernwood ; New York : Zed Books : Distributed in the USA exclusively by Palgrave. [Part 1 : The crisis of free market capitalism. The dynamics of systemic crisis -- The imperial counteroffensive : contradictions, challenges and opportunities -- Post-9/11 : a period of empire building -- Argentina : between disintegration and revolution -- Right/Left polarization : the ballot box and the street -- Cod : an ecological crisis of industrial capitalism -- Part 2 : Political dynamics of anti -globalization. Latin American peasants against the state -- Indigenous peoples arise : Ecuador on the move -- Los Piqueteros : new actors on the political stage -- The dynamics of anti-globalization.]
Picciotto, Robert & Ray C. Rist (eds.). 1995. Evaluating Country Development Policies and Programs : New Approaches for A New Agenda. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass Pub. [Preamble : new dimensions in evaluation / Eleanor Chelimsky -- Introduction : evaluation and development / Robert Picciotto -- Evaluating the effectiveness of poverty alleviation programs / Lyn Squire -- A framework for evaluating policy adjustment programs : lessons from a cross-country evaluation / William H. Bransom, Carl Jayarajah -- Assessing institutional development : the legal framework that shapes public institutions / Thomas H. Stanton -- Evaluating environmental impacts : the process of unnatural selection / James T. Winpenny -- Measuring the performance of agricultural and rural development programs / Krishna Kumar -- Using evaluation indicators to track the performance of education programs / George Psacharopoulos -- Evaluating gender impacts / Caroline O.N. Moser -- The housing indicators program : a model for evaluation research and policy analysis? / Stephen K. Mayo -- Including culture in evaluation research / Robert Klitgaard -- The listening dimension of evaluation / Lawrence F. Salmen -- Evaluating public services : a case study on Bangalore, India / Samuel Paul -- Postscript : development questions and evaluation answers / Ray C. Rist.]
Porter, Gina. 2003. ÒNGOs and Poverty Reduction In A Globalizing World: Perspectives from Ghana,Ó Progress in Development Studies, v3n2 (Apr 2003): 131-145. [This paper is concerned with the factors that influence and constrain NGO contributions to poverty reduction in a globalizing world, focusing on their role as transmitters of grounded knowledge about poverty in very poor countries. Interviews with staff in 33 NGOs in Ghana, a country where the NGO sector is heavily dependent on overseas funding, indicate that local understandings about poverty are being overridden by so-called programmes of partnership support that erode local confidence in home-grown ideas about poverty and how to combat it. This is illustrated by reference to the common donor preference for working with groups and for 'Asian' development approaches.
Roeskau, Michael. 2001. ÒTrade and Poverty Reduction In the 21st Century,Ó The OECD Observer, (Jul 2001): 34-35. [Trade and poverty reduction go hand in hand but if further trade liberalization is to be achieved, countries will need to address also the whole question of global governance, according to Michel Camdessus. If the world's trading nations are to be any more successful in global talks in Dohar in November than they were in Seattle in 1999, when they failed to agree on new negotiations, they will have to take this into account, according to Camdessus. The ultimate systemic threat today is poverty, Camdessus said, citing former Mexican finance minister Angel Gurria. Openness in trade must be perceived as integral to a growth policy centered on poverty reduction, and only if a new cycle of trade talks is seen as a prerequisite for sustainable development in all developing countries will it have any chance of success.]
Rowson, Mike. 2001. ÒPoverty Reduction Strategy Papers,Ó British Medical Journal, v323n7305 (Jul 21, 2001): 120-121. [An investigation by the London based Overseas Development Institute was cautiously optimistic about the process of developing poverty reduction strategy papers in eight African countries.2 The siting of poverty reduction in finance ministries (traditionally the most powerful parts of government) was seen as a sign of the importance many governments are giving to poverty. There are signs too of the benefits of increased civil participation.]
Saasa, Oliver. Aid and Poverty Reduction In Zambia: Mission Unaccomplished by.
Saget, Catherine. 2001. ÒPoverty Reduction and Decent Work In Developing Countries: Do Minimum Wages Help?Ó International Labour Review, v140n3 (2001): 237-269. [The impact of minimum wages on employment and poverty is a subject of enduring controversy. The opening literature review contrasts the ambivalence of theoretical predictions with empirical findings that suggest a negative correlation between minimum wages and poverty, and little - if any - disemployment effect. Drawing on minimum wage data compiled in 2000, this empirical analysis explores minimum wage effects on poverty and employment in developing economies, including the informal sector. The effect of the minimum wage level on the level of employment appears to be insignificant, but it finds that a decent minimum wage may help to alleviate poverty.]
Schneider, Hartmut. 1999. ÒParticipatory Governance for Poverty Reduction,Ó Journal of International Development, v11n4 (Jun 1999): 521+. ['Development is too important simply to be left entirely at the discretion of the state's functionaries'. Mark Turner and David Hulme (1997) Governance, Administration and Development, London: MacMillan Press, p. 241.; Conventional poverty reduction strategies have produced disappointing results in many instances, especially in situations of high initial inequality which tend to reflect political obstacles to broad-based development. Participatory governance draws on insights from political and institutional economics and from experiments promoted by social activists. It represents a paradigm shift based on the trilogy of empowerment, accountability and capacity building which constitute the interdependent building blocks of participatory governance. Their role is threefold: i) to ensure that policy makers and their administration are more committed than they tend to be in non-participatory governance settings; ii) to base policies on better information; and iii) to make the implementation of policies more effective and efficient.]
Shepherd, Andrew. 2001. ÒConsolidating the Lessons of 50 Years of 'Development',Ó Journal of International Development, v13n3 (Apr 2001): 315. [The World Development Report 2000/01 builds a complex picture of poverty, and a comprehensive approach to its reduction, which challenges the still dominant neo-liberal paradigm. The significance of inequality in determining the outcomes of economic growth, of vulnerability and the need for an agenda of social security or social protection represent advances in the discourse of international agencies. The uniform and simplistic solutions of the past are dismissed with recognition of the fragility of markets and the problems of privatization. The diversity of poverty is met by emphasis on country strategies, which need to address the issues faced by the losers from the process of economic growth. Diversity has been identified -- it now needs analysis. The comprehensive approach advocated should help to stabilize development thinking, to move away from the pendulum swings of policy fashion. The constraints to poverty reduction are under-emphasised -- resources to provide safety nets; the problems of preventing or resolving conflict, and the potential political resistance from elites unconvinced that poverty is their problem. Nevertheless, the report provides a basis for building a new international coalition against poverty, with the Bank as one among several agencies, a situation in which it will need to clarify its role.]
Stern, Nicholas. 2003. ÒPublic Policy for Growth and Poverty Reduction,Ó CESifo Economic Studies, v49n1 (2003): 5(22). [This paper attempts to outline an approach to public policy that is focused on fighting poverty and is based on an understanding of growth and development. Such a public policy requires answering two key questions. First, what are the key determinants of a development that benefits poor people; or what has been labelled "pro-poor growth? and second, the policy question needs to be answered: How can public action influence the key determinants that are identified? In putting the questions this way, the task is set of building a dynamic public economics; a public economics of development. Given that development is the objective, this task will require a better understanding of how to measure it. A better grasp of changes of behaviour in the process of development must also be achieved, since changing perspectives and behaviour are usually an integral part of the development story. In laying out the task of advancing a dynamic public economics, however, it should be emphasised that we should be building on, not overturning, past theory. In much of the work described, the empirics seem to be ahead of theory. Thus one purpoose here is to highlight some elements of an agenda for theoretical research.]
Thomas, Barbara P. 1985. Politics, Participation, and Poverty : Development Through Self- Help In Kenya. Boulder : Westview Press.
Timmer, Vanessa & Calestous Juma. 2005. ÒTaking Root: Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Reduction Come Together in the Tropics,Ó Environment, v47n4 (May 2005): 24(20). [The local innovations that are nominated for the Equator Initiative prize present a valuable case set for analysis of the biodiversity conservation goals and poverty reduction goals combined, and some support that a synthesis of these goals is possible. The Equator's Initiative research and learning program was established with the intent of encouraging investigation into the factors that lead to the effectiveness of community-based conservation efforts, and the problems associated with transferability across local efforts and with scaling-up from the local level to the achievement of global goals.]
Townsend, Janet G. & Gina Porter & Emma Mawdsley. 2002. ÒThe Role of the Transnational Community of Non-Government Organizations: Governance Or Poverty Reduction?Ó Journal of International Development, v14n6 (Aug 2002): 829+. [Non-government organizations working in development form a transnational community which has a new role in imperialism today. We explored the knowledge economy of this community with NGDOs in Ghana, India, Mexico and Europe and found it to be largely donor-controlled and generally top-down, often against the will of committed individual actors. Governability is arguably a greater priority to donors than the most effective poverty reduction. The new managerialism and its audit culture impose demands on NGDOs that tend to work against any listening to southern NGDOs or their clients, so that the sharing of local knowledge and ideas is very restricted.]
Tulchin, Joseph S. & Allison M. Garland (eds.). 2000. Social Development In Latin America : The Politics of Reform. Boulder, CO: L. Rienner. [The politics and administration of social development in Latin America / Allison M. Garland -- The social agenda and the politics of reform in Latin America / Merilee S. Grindle -- Reforming social sector governance: a political perspective / Joan M. Nelson -- From safety nets to social sector reform: lessons from the developing countries for the transition economies / Carol Graham -- Safety nets and service delivery: what are social funds really telling us? / Judith Tendler -- Overcoming poverty in Chile / Dagmar Raczynski -- Chile: the dark side of a successful housing policy / Mar{226}ia Elena Ducci -- What significance hath reform? the view from the Mexican barrio / Susan Eckstein -- The social consequences of political reforms: decentralization and social policy in Venezuela / Juan Carlo Navarro -- The social agenda in Argentina: a review of retirement and employment policies / Laura Golbert.]
Verme, Paolo. 2005. ÒUnderstanding Globalization, Employment and Poverty Reduction,Ó International Labour Review, v144n3 (2005): 348-351. [Understanding Globalization, Employment and Poverty Reduction, edited by Eddy Lee and Marco Vivarelli, is reviewed.]
Villar, Eugenio. 2004. ÒEmpowering the Poor: The Politics of Health and Poverty Reduction Programmes,Ó Development: The Politics of Health, v47n2 (Jun 2004): 109-114. [Health and poverty reduction are both usually understood in relation to income or physical well-being. Eugene Villar argues that it is important to take a broader human rights approach to health and development processes in order to address the deep political constraints that will empower people rather than promoting policies that are inequitable. In a recent history of policy debates in WHO and the World Bank, he shows how health and poverty have to be seen as multidimensional and inherently political in order for them to be effective and sustainable.]
Vosti, Stephen A. & Thomas Reardon (eds.). 1997. Sustainability, Growth, and Poverty Alleviation : A Policy and Agroecological Perspective. Baltimore, MD : Published for the International Food Policy Research Institute [by] Johns Hopkins University Press.
Warr, Peter. 2004. ÒGlobalization, Growth, and Poverty Reduction in Thailand,Ó ASEAN Economic Bulletin, v21n1 (Apr 2004): 1-18. [Sustained reduction of poverty incidence in Thailand has occurred over a period of several decades. This reduction in absolute poverty has occurred in spite of an increase in inequality over the same period. The rate of reduction of poverty has been strongly related to the rate of growth of GDP but the increase in inequality has not. The long-term growth of the Thai economy has been associated with a gradual opening to international trade and investment. The paper also reviews the prospects for reducing poverty by raising minimum wages and argues that poverty cannot be reduced effectively in this way.]
White, Howard. 1999. ÒGlobal Poverty Reduction: Are We Heading In the Right Direction?Ó Journal of International Development, v11n4 (Jun 1999): 503+. [Poverty is now commonly recognised as a multi-dimensional concept, but there is less agreement about whether such recognition matters for poverty reduction policies in practice. This article argues that it does matter, as income is an input measure rather than a welfare outcome, the correlation between income and other aspects of poverty is imperfect and as there are strong complementarties between investment in human development and attaining sustained growth. Poverty measures should clearly be those that focus on the welfare of the poor, but it is often forgotten that many social indicators have a distributional component, just as does income per capita, so that increases do not necessarily correspond to improvements in the well-being of the poor. The record with respect to poverty reduction is uneven and certainly leaves no room for complacency. Although growth is rightly considered a part of any poverty reduction strategy, the agenda should focus more strongly on poverty reduction with growth (and so the distribution of the benefits of growth). Aid can play a role in this process, but only if the donor-based biases which distort aid from its poverty-reducing objective are confronted.]
White, Howard. 2001. ÒNational and International Redistribution As Tools for Poverty Reduction,Ó Journal of International Development, v13n3 (Apr 2001): 343. [The World Development Report makes the case for redistribution but then fails to give adequate focus to redistributive policies as the core of anti-poverty strategies. Simple calculations show the power that small amounts of redistribution can have to reduce poverty at both the global and national levels. Mechanisms for global redistribution, through aid, trade, technology and immigration are inadequately utilized. National level policies should encompass the full range of assets and go beyond incremental redistribution. The capacity of the fiscal system to provide safety nets is also important.]
White, Howard. 2001. ÒWill the New Aid Agenda Help Promote Poverty Reduction?Ó Journal of International Development, v13n7 (Oct 2001): 1057+. [Aid is widely perceived to have failed at poverty reduction. The last decade has seen a renewed focus on poverty and a number of changes in aid management. Will these improve aid's effectiveness at reducing poverty? The adoption of the International Development Targets is an important rallying point in emphazising poverty concerns, but do not tell us how to achieve them. Sector programmes and Poverty Reduction Strategies can both be important in enhancing the efficiency of expenditures, though there have been problems in implementation, mainly of donors being reluctant to allow government to lead the process. Less desirable are the move to selectivity on the basis of good policies and attempts to earmark debt relief to poverty reduction expenditures. But the real issue to be tackled is to ensure that a greater proportion of aid resources are used in ways which will directly benefit the poor.]
Wilson, Francis & Nazneen Kanji & Einar Braathen (eds.). Poverty Reduction: What Role for the State in Today's Globalized Economy?
Zetter, Roger & Mohamed Hamza (eds.). 2004. Market Economy and Urban Change : Impacts In the Developing World. London ; Sterling, VA : Earthscan. [Market enablement and the urban sector / Roger Zetter -- Developmental welfare and political economy: reflections on policy-conditioned aid and strategic redirections of international housing and urban policies, 1960-2000 / Cedric Pugh -- The state, foreign aid and the political economy of shelter in Egypt / Mohammed Hamza -- Tackling urban poverty: principles and practice in project and programme design in Kenya / Carole Rakodi -- Bridging the rural-urban divide: what can the urban learn from the rural? reflections on the case of Mexico / Gareth A. Jones -- Between command and market economies: the changing roles of public and private housing sectors in transitional economies / Geoffrey Payne and Richard Grover -- Urban land tenure in Brazil: from centralized state to market processes of housing land delivery / Flavio de Souza and Roger Zetter -- Market enablement and the reconfiguration of urban structure in Colombia / Andres Oritz-Gomez and Roger Zetter.]