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India's political economy and economic policies can no longer be understood in a purely domestic-oriented or closed economy framework. This paper offers an "India in the world" framework that analyzes how traditional borders of domestic political economy and international politics interact in shaping domestic policy and political economy. In contrast to existing political economy approaches on India, such a framework pays attention to the changing nature of domestic political economy but also how international factors affect and shape domestic imperatives and goals. Simultaneously, domestic developments have important global consequences in terms of increasing (or decreasing) global attention and external economic flows to India, which must be attended to in understanding India's domestic political economy. I also suggest that the global world is not only a set of exogenous structures and constraints, but rather, the changing global order is deployed and used by state actors to refurbish their political and state power to achieve both domestic and global aims. However, if state actors fail to renew the domestic sources of growth or contribute to crony capitalist or debt-laden domestic growth, then, even attending to global alliances may fail to renew the economic sources of state power and create serious contradictions in India's domestic and global strategies despite new realignments favoring India at the global level. These ideas help us understand Modi regime's political economy in a new way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze how India's climate change policy is framed, formulated and implemented and argue that it requires carefully balancing of domestic and international interests. Given the country's population size, composition and projected economic growth, India will, in the next few years, see its most significant energy demand upsurge along with a massive need for infrastructure. As projected by the International Energy Agency, "nearly 60% of its CO2 emissions in the late 2030s will be coming from infrastructure and machines that do not exist today". As a result, policy choices made today by India's decision-makers and international negotiators will have severe implications for the world. This paper analyzes global emission trends, climate change impacts and India's international and domestic climate policies—from Paris to Glasgow and New Delhi to rural India. Furthermore, we examine the core constraints that Indian policymakers face and draw attention to shortcomings in India's climate change policies, particularly concerning continued investment in coal despite the country's widely lauded efforts to embrace renewables. We argue that fossil fuel subsidies are a delicate political issue with significant implications for many election-determining poor citizens—hence accompanying "just transition" measures are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, Congress created the Opportunity Zone ("OZ") program to stimulate economic growth in low-income communities. The program was characterized by its unprecedented scale relative to previous place-based development efforts and was described as "perhaps the most ambitious economic development tool to come out of Congress in a generation." However, the program was quickly criticized on numerous grounds, and its design flaws are so severe that several legislators have called for its reform or repeal. This Essay argues that the root of the OZ program's problems is a strong mismatch between its stated purpose and its actual terms. We discuss how the OZ program works and why the actual terms of its enabling legislation encourage investors to focus on real estate projects. We show that, contrary to common perceptions of the OZ program, its intended purpose was to promote entrepreneurship and startup activity. We conduct an empirical analysis to show that low-income tracts did not experience any increase in startup investment following OZ designation. Overall, our results suggest that OZ designation has generally failed to achieve its stated goal and that the serious concerns about its manipulability to favor specific investors are warranted. Finally, we consider various proposals to make the OZ program more consistent with its original goal and briefly note how the legislative process behind the OZ statute may have contributed to its shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial inclusion through microfinance is found to promote resilience strategies of the poor as it has become more demand sensitive. Extant literature suggests that there have been perceptible changes in the living conditions of the rural poor mainly on the economic side and relatively on the social side owing to the role of self-help groups (SHGs). Further, it is widely believed that SHGs have had a positive impact on the poverty levels and standards of living of the poor and more particularly on the economic empowerment of women. Given this context, this study reviews the financial diaries of the poor and provides evidence of the impact of financial inclusion program on the poor beneficiary households in India. More specifically, this study answers the specific question: what is the impact of SHGs on the annual income of the participating poor households. Based on stratified random sampling this study uses the nearest-neighbor matching method to construct the control groups to estimate the program impact. Keeping in view the stabilization of the financial inclusion program, this study covers the financial inclusion beneficiaries in the Shimoga district of Karnataka state in India for the period 2010 - 2015. Using the Paired-Sample t-test and the difference-in-difference approach, the study notices a significant positive change in the income levels of the beneficiaries resulting in the resilience of the poor households. This study notices perceptible changes in the living conditions of the rural poor mainly on the economic side and relatively on the social side owing to the role of SHGs. Financial inclusion has a positive impact on the poverty levels and standards of living of the poor and more particularly on the economic empowerment of women. This approach has enhanced the resilience of the poor households as there has been an increase in the mean annual income to the extent of 72% from the pre-SHG situation to the after-SHG impact. The results suggest that the financial inclusion is more beneficial in strengthening the resilience of the poor households particularly that of the downtrodden classes in India. Further, these findings provide direction for policymakers and practitioners involved in building and measuring changes in household resilience. This study implies that effective implementation of financial inclusion program has greater benefits and a win-win situation for all the stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the site of human subjects research has public health, regulatory, ethical, economic, and social implications, we sought to determine the global distribution and migration of clinical research using an open-access trial registry. Methods: We obtained individual clinical trial data including location of trial sites, dates of operation, funding source (United States government, pharmaceutical industry, or organization), and clinical study phase (1, 1/2, 2, 2/3, or 3) from ClinicalTrials.gov. We used the World Bank's classification of each country's economic development status ["High Income and a Member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)", "High Income and Non-Member of the OECD", "Upper-Middle Income", "Lower-Middle Income", or "Low Income"] and United Nations Populations Division data for country-specific population estimates. We analyzed data from calendar year 2006 through 2012 by number of clinical trial sites, cumulative trial site-years, trial density (trial site-years/106 population), and annual growth rate (%) for each country, and by development category, funding source, and clinical study phase. Results: Over a 7-year period, 89,647 clinical trials operated 784,585 trial sites in 175 countries, contributing 2,443,850 trial site-years. Among those, 652,200 trial sites (83%) were in 25 high-income OECD countries, while 37,195 sites (5%) were in 91 lower-middle or low-income countries. Trial density (trial site-years/106 population) was 540 in the United States, 202 among other high-income OECD countries (excluding the United States), 81 among high-income non-OECD countries, 41 among upper-middle income countries, 5 among lower-middle income countries, and 2 among low-income countries. Annual compound growth rate was positive (ranging from 0.8% among low-income countries to 14.7% among lower-middle income countries) among all economic groups, except the United States (-0.5%). Overall, 29,191 trials (33%) were funded by industry, 4,059 (5%) were funded by the United States government, and 56,397 (63%) were funded by organizations. Countries with emerging economies (low- and middle-income) operated 19% of phase 3 trial sites, as compared to only 6% of phase 1 trial sites. Conclusion: Human clinical research remains concentrated in high-income countries, but operational clinical trial sites, particularly for phase 3 trials, may be migrating to low- and middle-income countries with emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates a practical theological approach to the challenge of poverty in post1994 South Africa by using Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) as a case study. It argues that while the Reconstruction Development Plan, the Growth Employment and Reconstruction strategy, Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, New Growth Path and the National Development Plan have achieved some level of economic growth, the majority of people in South Africa still live in poverty. To establish this argument, the article starts first by describing the challenge of poverty in post-1994 South Africa. The different economic approaches to the challenge of poverty in post-1994 South Africa are also explained in detail. Lastly, the article elaborates on the ways in which the AFM through its local assemblies can alleviate poverty. The article concludes that the AFM is a collaborator to the post-1994 South African government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact of the financial and banking development in reducing poverty in Africa from 1990 to 2014. The study it shows that the banking sector is a useful tool to overcome poverty in African countries in terms of further development and activity according to the points made in the revised results achieved and literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time it would take for urban and rural areas to exit poverty and the minimum economic growth rate to eradicate poverty in a predetermined period of time is estimated using the methodology developed by Chávez (2009). The results demonstrate that if there were an economic growth rate of seven percent beginning in 2010, the time it would take to get out of poverty for urban areas is more than 50 years, and 98 for the rural ones. The minimum rate of growth to eradicate poverty by 2050 is, for urban areas, nine percent and, for rural areas, 18.1 percent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty analytical approaches have recently considered households' deprivation in several welfare attributes in what has been tagged multidimensional poverty. This approach has been well embraced due to acceptability of human development indices as a parameter for comparing welfare across different segments of the population. In this study, non-monetary indicators of welfare were aggregated into composite welfare indicator for pro-poor growth assessment. The 1999, 2003 and 2008 Demographic and Health Survey data were analyzed using the poverty equivalent growth rate (PEGR) and growth incidence curves (GICs). Results show that although sometimes pro-poor, non-income growth rates in many of the zones and states were negative between 1999 and 2003. In the 2003-2008 period, some more positive values were obtained. Specifically, between 1999 and 2003, there was pro-poor growth in non-income poverty in the north-western zone with urban areas benefiting more than rural areas. In the North East zone, there was pro-poor growth between 1999 and 2003, while none was pro-poor between 2003 and 2008. In the North Central zone, all the sectoral results for between 1999 and 2003 had negative growth rates. In South West zone, the growth rates for all the analyses are with negative growth rates between 1999 and 2003. In the South South zone, all the sectoral results had negative growth rates and pro-poor. In South East zone, between 1999 and 2003, all the sectoral results are with positive growth rates and pro-poor. In the combined households (Nigeria) analysis, that all the results had negative growth rates. There is therefore the need for ensuring proper monitoring of non-income poverty across different zones and states in order to ensure adequacy of different mechanisms for tackling it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asia-Pacific region includes a majority of the world's population and many of its most rapidly growing economies. It is also home to the world's largest number of extremely poor people, many fragile states, and unsustainable environmental practices. The region has increased its influence in the world economy but is still grappling to overcome complex interrelated challenges of poverty, inequality and sustainable development. Its priorities must be addressed as a central element of any post-2015 global development goal framework. Drawing from lessons of the Millennium Development Goals, this paper suggests a conceptual framework to guide a new generation of goals, along with an intergovernmental approach to implementation. The “ZEN” framework stresses the distinct challenges of achieving zero extreme poverty (Z), setting country-specific “Epsilon” benchmarks for broader development challenges (E), and promoting environmental sustainability both within and across borders (N). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the creation of the meaning of “poverty" as perceived in the United Nations discourse on sustainable development. Our goal is to approach the representation of the process of poverty as constituted in this institutional arena. We propose an alternative analytical perspective to a descriptive statistics approach, emphasizing the discursive aspect of social processes. We begin this process with a route we call “endogenous dynamics" that addresses the discursive ties between the referent of “poverty" and the main referents of sustainable development. We affirm that the sustainable development model has surpassed the analogy between economic growth and development that was predominant during the second half of the last century. Nevertheless, this model has not addressed comprehensively the process of poverty: an in-depth review of its causes and an impartial approach are needed and attention must be paid to its social, economic and environmental dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ODA has proved a useful tool for the advancement of societies the world's neediest, including Latin America. This paper will analyze first the historical context in which it arose this dependence and the role they are playing donor countries, especially Spain and Portugal. Subsequently, we analyze the consistency of cooperation policies to see how it affects the geographic areas and sectors neediest in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the need for inclusive economic development in India, with a focus on the prevalence of human trafficking which targets women, children, and the poor. Topics include the financial pressures faced by Indian children making it necessary for them to work to support their families, the impact of Indian government reforms aimed at liberalizing the economy, increasing private investments, and stimulating economic activity, and the challenges of combating poverty in India posed by corruption, exploitation, and human rights violations.

Abstract: A major hypothesis of asset-building is that early access to savings accounts leads to continued and improved educational and economic outcomes over time. This study asks whether or not young adults (ages 18–22) in 2007, particularly among lower income households, are significantly more likely to own savings accounts and to accumulate more savings when they have access to savings accounts at banking institutions as adolescents (ages 13–17) in 2002. We investigate this question using longitudinal data (low-to-moderate income sample [LMI; N =530]; low-income sample [LI; N =354]) from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its supplements. Results from propensity score weighting and bivariate probit estimates support this hypothesis. Asset-building policies that extend early access to savings accounts may improve savings outcomes for young people from lower income households, which hopefully affords them with the economic resources needed to lead productive and satisfying lives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For better or worse, we live in a society dominated by the automobile; Americans are notoriously dependent on automobiles for access to goods and services, for social and economic development, and for sustenance. In disaster situations, transportation can be critical to individual and household recovery efforts, particularly for those in areas with no public transportation or where public transportation has been disrupted. FEMA's statutory mandate charges the agency with "alleviating] the suffering and damage," and unsurprisingly, this mandate encompasses disruptions to local transportation systems; the agency's statutes and regulations authorize FEMA to provide financial aid for transportation needs, including repair or replacement of disaster-damaged personal vehicles. But to be eligible, FEMA requires proof of an applicant's auto accident liability insurance--despite the fact that such insurance would not have covered the damaged vehicle. The only plausible policy reason given for this rule is that FEMA will not provide aid for vehicles not in compliance with state law. However, state mandatory insurance laws exist to reduce the numbers of uninsured motorists, a goal with little, if any, discernible relationship to FEMA's mission of disaster relief. Moreover, most uninsured vehicles are owned by low-income households, and the postdisaster punitive effect on uninsured disaster survivors could violate FEMA's antidiscrimination provisions, which include protections on the basis of economic status. What is more, auto insurance mandates are of dubious efficacy--raising more questions about the eligibility requirement. This Article examines and critiques the FEMA auto insurance mandate in light of the agency's mission and history, and the mandate to alleviate disaster-related economic harms to low-income families. Further, this Article considers both the policy arguments and the potential for successful challenges to the policy through litigation or agency procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceptions of national economic performance are a cornerstone of American public opinion and of presidential approval. Yet much of our knowledge about economic perceptions comes from political surveys conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, prior to the recent increase in income inequality. This article updates our understanding of economic perceptions by combining the 1978–2010 Michigan Surveys of Consumer Attitudes with various economic indicators. It first uses aggregate data to show that, despite rising inequality, Americans of all incomes continue to agree about national economic performance. In past work, snapshots from elections create the impression that these assessments of economic performance are influenced only by income growth among the wealthy. Examining more than 215,000 respondents over three decades, however, we learn that income growth among the poor is frequently more influential. This article thus identifies an attitudinal mechanism by which the poor's economic condition can profoundly influence American politics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the impact that national economic policies adopted during Indira Gandhi's final term in office (1980–84) had on four “national” social groups, namely the big industrialists, the middle class, the rich peasantry, and the poor. The study argues that the Congress (I) chose the former two as its major allies, while the rich peasantry and the poor were relegated to a secondary position. In the process, the focus of India's strategy of development shifted from the agrarian to the industrial sector, and from the rural to the urban world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is the result of conversations among a group of development professionals associated with the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) in Sri Lanka, around questions of the values with which we conduct our work and what this means for our practice. Prompted by the opportunity presented by the Reimagining Development initiative and in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, specifically we asked: Is there tension between values that drive our life and those that drive the 'development' we promote? Is there tension between our personal aspirations and the type of development we promote for the 'poor'? What are the implications on us as individuals and as professionals? What are the implications on the 'targets' of the development that we promote? The discussion that follows is based on a structured process of reflection and discussion of ideas among a purposively selected group of professionals, all institutionally linked to CEPA. The analysis of how these values are reconciled provides a useful basis to take the discussion of an alternative, value-driven development paradigm forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcredit institutions spend billions of dollars fighting poverty by making small loans primarily to female entrepreneurs. Proponents argue that microcredit mitigates market failures, spurs micro-enterprise growth, and boosts borrowers' well-being. We tested these hypotheses with the use of an innovative, replicable experimental design that randomly assigned individual liability microloans (of $225 on average) to 1601 individuals in the Philippines through credit scoring. After 11 to 22 months, we found evidence consistent with unmet demand at the current price (a roughly 60% annualized interest rate): Net borrowing increased in the treatment group relative to controls. However, the number of business activities and employees in the treatment group decreased relative to controls, and subjective well-being declined slightly. We also found little evidence that treatment effects were more pronounced for women. However, we did find that microloans increase ability to cope with risk, strengthen community ties, and increase access to informal credit. Thus, microcredit here may work, but through channels different from those often hypothesized by its proponents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private sector development (PSD) has emerged as a core component of donor strategies aimed at making free markets work for ‘the poor’ through assistance to business sector capacity in low-income states. PSD initiatives cannot be understood, however, as technical exercises aimed solely at promoting development through business competitiveness. Instead they serve as normative concessions through which developmentally questionable market-opening has been rationalised by donors in pursuit of lucrative commercial opportunities in emerging economies. Examining the European Union's (EU) PSD framework in bilateral relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states, the article examines the utilisation of PSD discourse in the ‘development branding’ of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). PSD discourse is seen to facilitate a ‘double-veiling’ of asymmetric ACP–EU trade ties via legitimising images of equitable market-opening and the trickle-down of business wealth to ‘the poor’. Nevertheless, the reality of reciprocal trade structures combined with Europe's anaemic PSD resources bears little resemblance to the strategic illusions of PSD. In particular, the interventions of Europe's Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) in cotton and textiles sectors in East Africa are seen to have dubious outcomes for ‘development’ in ACP former colonies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article looks at the political accountability of democracies in political and economic development, focusing on the conflict between the rights of the poor and the rich. Accountability mechanisms used in democracies are discussed, including voting, criticism, and protest. The author feels that democratic accountability to the poor is not a widely accepted ideal, which creates a double standard. The allocation of aid in various democracies and dictatorships is considered. The author criticizes the use of euphemisms in politics to avoid addressing the issue of democratic accountability.

Few ideas and activities have received as hyperbolic praise as that presented by Hernando de Soto on informality. Nobel laureates in economics, presidents of various countries, important magazines, and multilateral organizations have endorsed this author's impulse towards the official registration of the property or the poor, particularly, their homes, as the key to launching a worldwide economic revolution from below. In this paper we present the institutional backing of those ideas, the analytic substance behind the main arguments involved, the descriptive accuracy of the institutions operating in the Third World, and the results of their application. In this way, we evaluate the relationship between the spread and power of an idea and its formal content, and its effectiveness in changing the world of the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calculations of marginal welfare effects suggest that agricultural development has had important positive effects on national welfare, especially in developing countries. Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries have also benefited from agricultural growth, but non-agricultural production has had marginal welfare effects that are greater in magnitude to those provided by agricultural activities. The industrialized, high-income countries experienced positive marginal welfare gains from non-agricultural activities but negative effects from agriculture. These calculations of marginal welfare effects across regions depend on econometric estimates of elasticities linking agricultural and non-agricultural economic activities to four elements proposed in a theoretical national welfare function: national GDP per capita, average income of the poorest households within countries, environmental outcomes concerning air and water pollution and deforestation, and macroeconomic volatility. The empirical models are estimated with various econometric techniques that deal with issues of causality and international heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the Rwandan case to address some of the challenges and pitfalls in defining pro-poor strategies. The paper first looks at the danger of a purely growth-led development focus (as in Rwanda's first PRSP), and evaluates the extent to which the agricultural sector has been a pro-poor growth engine. It then studies Rwanda's current rural policies, which aim to modernise and 'professionalise' the rural sector. There is a high risk that these rural policy measures will be at the expense of the large mass of small-scale peasants. This paper stresses that the real challenge to transform the rural sector into a true pro-poor growth engine will be to value and incorporate the capacity and potential of small-scale 'non-professional' peasants into the core strategies for rural development. The lessons drawn from the Rwandan case should inspire policy makers and international donors worldwide to shift their focus away from a purely output-led logic towards distribution-oriented rural development policies. In other words, the challenge is to reconcile efficiency in creating economic growth with equity, and perhaps, to put equity first. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nobel Prize committee awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below." The microfinance revolution has come a long way since Yunus first provided financing to the poor in Bangladesh. The committee has recognized microfinance as "an important liberating force" and an "ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty." Although several authors have provided comprehensive surveys of microfinance, our aim is somewhat more modest: This article is intended as a non-technical overview on the growth and development of microcredit and microfinance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty in Africa has been rising for the last quarter-century, while it has been falling in the rest of the developing world. Africa's distinctive problem is that its economies have not been growing. This article attempts to synthesize a range of recent research to account for this failure of the growth process. I argue that the reasons lie not in African peculiarities but rather in geographic features that globally cause problems but that are disproportionately pronounced in Africa. These features interact to create three distinct challenges that are likely to require international interventions beyond the conventional reliance on aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surveys conducted in 1999 and 2004 in six poverty-stricken areas in Terengganu show that the poor perceive development in almost identical terms as those suggested by development experts. The poor's perception about the importance of social overhead capital has become stronger in 2004 compared to 1999. With minor variation, they have positive opinion about their leaders. The better educated among them seem to be better in preference for both material and moral considerations. The poor are poor in religiosity but that may be due to the nature of the profession and the distance of the shari'ah-based financial institutions. The government should pay attention to their demands for better physical and social infrastructural facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental resources have made a substantial contribution to economic growth and poverty reduction in Asia Natural assets, such as fertile soils, rivers and forests, are often critical For the livelihoods of poor people. This article shows how resource-intensive development in Asia has been achieved at significant environmental cost Environmental problems such as deforestation, pressure on water supplies, and pollution from industry place real limits on further economic growth and increase the region's already high vulnerability to natural disasters The challenge for governments and policy makers is to use natural wealth to generate growth and enable poor people to benefit from this growth, while at the same Lime sustaining its capacity to produce these benefits in the future The article argues that progress can be advanced through international partnerships which build on existing initiatives in a number of areas including climate change, sustainable Forestry and fishing, disaster preparedness and pro-poor conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this study is that as a result of increased inequalities in welfare rules, the 1996 welfare reform act not only enhanced incentives for poor families to move but also (and perhaps more important) created disincentives for them to stay in "race to the bottom" states. In testing this thesis, we evaluated the mediating and moderating roles of state economic development and family structure. We merged data from three main sources: the 1996-1999 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the Urban Institute's Welfare Rules Database, and state economic data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Modeling both destination (pull) and departure (push) effects of welfare policy measures and selected covariates in a nested discrete-time event-history migration analysis, we found robust support for the thesis that stringency in state welfare-eligibility and behavior-related rules stimulated interstate out-migration of poor families in the United States. However poor families were not drawn to states with relatively more-lenient welfare rules, although stringency in state welfare dollar benefits inhibited in-migration and state unemployment patterns may have conditioned the migration effects of welfare-reform rules on the choice of destination. Single mothers were not more directly affected by welfare-eligibility and behavior-related rules than were poor married couples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers building an inclusive financial sector would lead to growth and the reduction of poverty. Assets in the financial sector is said to be concentrated in the hands of a few. Different population groups that need access to financial services, notably women, were blocked from being included in the sector. It is claimed that access to well-functioning and efficient financial services can empower individuals economically and socially. Such access would allow them to better integrate into a country's economy and actively contribute to its growth, and microfinance plays an important role in the expansion of such access. INSETS: Addressing the Issue of a Lack of Data;Two Traditional Measures of Financial Sector Development;The Vision of a Microfinance Leader;Direct Effects over Time of Access to Financial Services by the P

This study argues that the costs associated with El Salvador's dollarizatitin clearly outweigh the benefits and that the decision to dollarize was prompted not only by the need to promote economic growth, but also by the impluse to serve the interests of the financial sector and the large entrepreneurs who control the ruling ARENA party. Although the policy facilitates investment and international financial transactions, it has a negative effect on the poor by increasing inequality. To develop this argument, the authors discuss the socioeconomic and political situation in El Salvador at the time of dollarization, examine the Law of Monetary Integration, and analyze the effect of the dollarization policy on the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International development discourse has recently shifted its focus from top-down economic adjustment to participative anti-poverty policy. This shift hints at an acknowledgement of the local complexities within the poverty process and at a need to listen to and develop actions with the 'poor'. But, whereas the mainstream argument remains couched in a technical framework, we argue that the fight against poverty is inevitably political. Conceptualising the aid industry as a set of global-local interfaces, it follows that a closer look at 'participation' in anti-poverty interventions is needed to come to grips with the political issues involved. Four issues are discussed: the complexity of local 'participation', given the 'polycephalous' character of third world societies; the power biases in the aid chain; the potential problem of 'false consciousness'; and the ambiguities of the role of local development brokers. We conclude that anti-poverty policy is in need of 'interface experts', who, through 'provocation' can beget 'participation'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE:: To identify if the nutritional status and improvements in Vietnam during the 1990s applied equally to the key vulnerable population groups (poor, rural, and ethnic minority) as it did to the nonpoor-largely in the urban areas. DESIGN:: This study used cross-sectional analyses in the context of inequalities occurring in the diets of the poor and nonpoor that accompanied economic improvements during the Vietnam Doi Moi period. SETTING:: During the Doi Moi period in Vietnam. SUBJECTS:: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on data using 23?839 individuals (4800 households) from the Vietnam Living Standard Survey (VLSS) in 1992-1993 and 28?509 individuals (6002 households) from the Vietnam Living Standard Survey in 1997-1998. Analysis for changes in food consumption was conducted on 17?763 individuals (4305 households) that were included in both surveys. INTERVENTION:: None. RESULTS:: After initiation of Doi Moi in 1986, the average Vietnamese person reached the dietary adequacy of 2100?kcal per day per capita in the early 1990s, but this did not improve during the next decade. The structure of diet shifted to less starchy staples while proteins and lipids (meat, fish, other protein-rich higher fat foods) increased significantly. Although the gap in nutrient intake between the poor and the nonpoor decreased, the proportion of calories from protein- and lipid-rich food for the poor is lower than for the nonpoor. The VLSS data showed that the increase of protein and lipid foods in total energy structure over the 5?y between the VLSS studies for poor households was 0.43% (CI=0.33, 0.53) and 0.47% (CI=0.41, 0.54) lower, respectively, than for nonpoor households (P<0.0001). Inequalities compared to the nonpoor were also found in both quantity and quality of food consumption. For example, poor households consumed (quantity) 127?kcal/day (CI=119, 135) less from meat, and 32?kcal/day (CI=27, 38) less from fats than nonpoor households (P<0.0001), and the proportion of calories consumed (quality) by poor households was 5.8% (CI=5.4, 6.1) less from meat and 0.96% (CI=1.2, 0.7) less from fats than by nonpoor households (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS:: Although the key vulnerable groups-rural, poor, and minority populations-showed improvements in diet, there still remains an inequity between these groups and the nonpoor of the population. In particular, the vulnerable groups consumed less of their daily consumption from the desirable high-quality proteins of animal foods and fats, and more from cereals and other starches-lagging the better-off populations in desired composition. SPONSORSHIP:: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2004) 58, 145-153. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601761 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the politics of livelihood opportunity in southern Africa. Characterization of the livelihoods of poor, rural people in southern Africa; Key policy directions required in a sustainable livelihood approach; Key priority for rural development and livelihoods-focused efforts.

Compares the income of the rich and the poor, and examines the effect of economic growth on poverty. Relation between wealth distribution and poverty; Empirical evidence on the relationship between the incomes of the rich and poor; Factors attributed for the increases in the incomes of the rich.

The distribution of wealth in the world is manifested by the polarization of a rich North and a poor South. Is the North-South conflict increasing or decreasing, and does it depend on such variables as major power conflict, intra-Northern conflict, and world prosperity, as some schools of thought maintain? Focusing on these questions from a leadership-long cycle perspective suggests several hypotheses about the interrelationships between global economic growth, Northern antagonism, and North-South conflict. The effect of conflict on growth is also examined. Generating data on world economic growth and major power conflict, intra-Northern conflict, and North-South conflict for the period from 1870 to 1992, vector auto-regression analysis is used to test new hypotheses. Results provide considerable support for the new hypotheses, pro-vide mixed support for the previous arguments, and show that the relationship between world economic growth and conflict is not the same before and after World War II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comments on the work of Rector et al. (1999a, 1999b). The poverty lines implicit in their restrictive material deprivation approach are disputed and the claim that America has triumphed over poverty is rejected. Evidence is presented showing that poverty among the poorest Americans has significantly increased and is now near an all time high. The long economic expansion since the recession of 1990-1991 has left hardcore poverty essentially unchanged and relative deprivation among the poorest of the poor has increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates on whether economic growth is central to poverty alleviation in India. Extent and severity of poverty in India; Impact of policy reforms on poverty; Factors that impeded the movement of the poor out of poverty; Details on programs on anti-poverty; Conclusion.

The author contends that economic development throughout history from 1800 through the early 21st century resulted from a capitalistic system, allowing for technological innovations and creative destruction. The role that technological innovations played in creating wealth, including in regard to raising the income of poor people and the working class, is discussed.