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Among south Asian countries, Bhutan has the second lowest poverty incidence; but, there is a large difference in poverty incidence between urban and rural areas. While urban areas registered a very small poverty incidence, 12.0% of rural population were still below the national poverty line in 2017. Poverty is by and large a rural phenominon in Bhutan. Against this background, this study examines whether Bhutan's rural economic growth was pro-poor from 2007–2017 by using the Bhutan Living Standard Surveys. It also conducts an IV probit analysis to explore the determinants of poverty. Even in rural areas, growth is necessary for the reduction of poverty. Besides relying on trickle-down effects from hydropower projects and tourism, promotion of agriculture-based small scale industries is essential for the acceleration of rural economic growth, where further development of basic industrial and transportation infrastructure and socioeconomic facilities is imperative. The country also needs to promote and strengthen basic education since education is found to have played an important role in reducing poverty. Many rural households are vulnerable to poverty. To prevent vulnerable households from falling into poverty, more effective social safety net programs may be necessary based on regional differences in factors affecting living conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income mobility is a key issue for understanding the process of economic growth and distributional change. Some economists have used the concept of "pro‐poor growth" to examine, with individual‐level panel data, whether the poor benefit more than the rich from economic growth by tracking the extent of income mobility among different population subgroups. There is also literature in macroeconomics on the measurement of convergence. This paper introduces population‐weighted relative and absolute indices of mobility, convergence, and pro‐poor growth; it also distinguishes between anonymous and nonanonymous approaches to these issues. The empirical analysis is based on Chinese panel data for the period 2010–2018. In both absolute and relative terms, income growth in China was greater for individuals with an initially lower income but only for lower income deciles in relative terms. There was also an overall increase in individual welfare from anonymous and nonanonymous perspectives, which was higher among younger individuals. The welfare of the poor did not increase more than that of the nonpoor. These results shed light on the evolution of income distribution in China during the past decade's rapid economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends the empirical analysis establishing the significant and positive/negative influence of finance on growth/poverty by examining the contribution of financial development to pro-poor growth. We investigate the relationship between financial development and pro-poor growth in a panel of 29 countries from sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1994–2019. We focus on the vast majority income as the main indicator of pro-poor growth. We use the recent financial development index as a measure of financial development. Using Pooled Mean Group-ARDL estimation in a dynamic heterogeneous panel framework, we obtain the following results: (i) from linear analysis, there is a positive and significant effect of financial access, financial efficiency and the overall financial development index on pro-poor growth in the short run, while in the long run, only financial efficiency affects negatively and significantly pro-poor growth; (ii) results show that the nonlinear relation is not verified in the short run, while in the long run, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the financial development index, financial access and financial depth and pro-poor growth. This suggests that too much finance can be detrimental to pro-poor growth in SSA. Financial inclusion of the poor combined with governance is necessary to improve pro-poor growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study empirically examines the impact of rural roads on consumption of households in Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach – Both descriptive statistics and econometric techniques are used to address the aforementioned objective. Specifically, quantile regression, fixed- and random-effect models are used to understand the impact of rural road quality on welfare. Findings – The econometric analysis revealed that improving the quality of rural roads and/or creating access to all-weather roads raises households' average real consumption per capita by as much as 10%. The other transport indicator – mode of transport – also has a positive effect on real consumption per capita. The result indicated that real consumption per capita for households using the traditional mode of transport would increase by as much as 7% compared to those using foot as a major mode of transport. However, the fixed quantile estimation result revealed that rural road access has a positive and significant effect on consumption per capita only for the 0.8th and 0.9th percentiles, indicating that the access to roads is not pro-poor. Research limitations/implications – Improving rural roads to a level of all-weather road standards and provision of agricultural transport facilities should be strategic priorities. Originality/value – This study provides empirical evidence pertinent to the effect rural mobility has on the consumption of households as well as the pro-poorness of such investments in rural settings.

Yoksulluk ve ekonomik büyüme ilişkisi, iktisat biliminde önemli tartışma konularından birisidir. Ekonomik büyüme refah düzeyinde artış sağlar. Dolayısıyla yoksulların refah düzeyinde de artış olur. Ekonomik büyüme, yoksulluğu azalttığı için yoksul yanlısı büyüme olarak ifade edilir. Yoksul yanlısı büyüme, yoksulluğu hafifleterek, bu artışın Gayrisafi Yurtiçi Hasıla’da görülmesidir. Bunun anlamı yoksulların ekonomik büyümeden zenginlere nazaran daha çok yararlanması olarak kabul edilir. Yoksul yanlısı büyümenin temelini, ekonomik büyümenin yoksulluğun giderilmesinde yetersiz kalmasına dayanır. Bu noktadan hareketle, yoksul yanlısı büyümede bölüşüm, gelir dağılımı eşitsizliği ve gelirin yeniden dağılımı konuları ön plana çıkmaktadır. Özellikle gelirin yeniden dağılımı, ekonomik büyüme açısından topluma eşit yansıtılması büyük önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışmada, ekonomik büyümenin yoksulluğa etkileri ve yoksulların ekonomik büyümeden ne ölçüde faydalandığı ve faydalanması gerektiği üzerinde durulmuştur. Ekonomik büyümenin etkinliği açısından, gelirin yeniden dağılımının nasıl olması gerektiği üzerinde durulmuştur. Yoksul yanlısı büyüme, gelir dağılımı eşitsizliği ile ilişkilendirilmiştir. Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, Covid-19 pandemisinin savunmasız nüfus üzerindeki etkisini minimize etmek için politika yapıcılara yönelik öneriler geliştirmektir. Bulgular, Covid-19 pandemisinin başlangıcından bugüne kadar kamu harcamalarında, çeşitli demografik gruplar ve yoksullara yönelik sosyal koruma harcamalarını arttırdığı gözlenmiş ve bu desteklerin pandemiyle sınırlı kalmayarak sürdürülebilirlik kazanması önerilmektedir.

In 1991, India embarked on economic reform. This research asked if post-reform growth in the two newly formed states of Undivided Andhra Pradesh was or was not pro-poor. In both states, real monthly per capita expenditure increased, but poverty declined faster in 2004–05 to 2011–12 than in 1993–94 to 2004–05. Even though Telangana's economic growth was lower than that of Andhra Pradesh, its growth elasticity of poverty was high enough to cause a more rapid decline in poverty. In the second period, growth in both states was found to be pro-poor because of high-growth elasticities of poverty and lower income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that economic growth ought to be inclusive—that governments and economic policy makers should concern themselves with not just the "pace but also the pattern" of growth—has gained considerable traction in recent years. Actors ranging from local, state, regional and national governments to civic or non‐government actors to multinational corporations have embraced the rhetoric of inclusive growth, with many also developing their own suite of corresponding policy, strategy, or measurement approaches. Despite—or perhaps even because of—its popularity and proliferation, there is very little agreement around what inclusive growth actually is, how and at what spatial scale it should be pursued, and how outcomes ought to be measured. In this paper, we provide a conceptual synopsis of how and where inclusive growth emerged, what its aims are, and how it is understood and measured by its many different practitioners. We conclude with an assessment of whether this potentially valuable concept can be refined and incorporated into a unified and useful framework to inform policy and decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Investigación Económica is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Facultad de Economia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Based on the pro-poor index and pro-poor curve measurement method of economic growth, this paper uses the data of Chinese Family Panel Studies to measure the pro-poorness of economic growth in rural areas of China. The study found that, from 2014 to 2018, the economic growth of rural areas in China was absolutely pro-poor, the economic growth in 2014–2016 was relatively non-pro-poor, and the economic growth in 2016–2018 was relatively pro-poor. From the perspective of household income structure, optimizing the pro-poorness of economic growth requires continuously increasing the wage income of low-income households, and continuing to implement fiscal transfer policies that are more favorable to low-income households. From the perspective of the human capital of households, optimizing the pro-poorness of economic growth requires active family support policies to enable workers to better balance family and work responsibilities, and adopt target location strategies to give special care to families with special difficulties while increasing investment in public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty is one of the major problems of human societies that causes many social harms. Therefore, policymakers and economic development planners always aim to eliminate it. In addition, economic growth is one of the important and influential variables of macroeconomics. Therefore, examining the impact of economic growth on poverty through the lens of growth and distribution effects offers valuable insights for policymaking and poverty reduction strategies. In this study, we use the log-normal curve approach introduced by Bourguignon to estimate the growth effect on poverty utilizing data from urban households in Iran over the period 2013-2019. The results indicate that only in the one-year period of 2015-2016, the triangle of poverty, growth, and inequality has worked well and the growth has been pro-poor. Furthermore, provincial-level findings unveil discernible patterns: (a) In provinces experiencing positive growth, urban areas in Qom exhibit pro-poor growth, while those in Alborz, Golestan, and Hamedan provinces observe a trickle-down effect. Meanwhile, in other provinces, growth demonstrates an immiserizing trend. (b) In provinces with negative growth, only urban areas in Markazi province observe a reduction in poverty. However, due to the lack of growth, it cannot be concluded that this province has had pro-poor growth. In the urban areas of other provinces in this group, the situation has been unfavourable for the poor.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, economic growth is essential for poverty reduction, and pro-poor growth is the renewed focus of today's political debate. The present paper adds to the literature on the growth–inequality relationship. It provides an in-depth analysis of the potential role of agriculture in promoting pro-poor growth in rural and urban areas compared with that of other activities. This aspect still lacks rigorous empirical support. Using the Nexus project SAMs by the International Food Policy Research Institute, this study identifies the level of 'keyness' of 36 activities (12 are agricultural) in nine Eastern, Western, and Central African countries using the inter-industry linkages analysis. Afterwards, it investigates the income distribution multipliers effects of activities growth across households classified in quantiles in rural and urban areas. Therefore, the paper adds to the literature, mainly focused on rural poverty and information on the growth effect on urban poverty, which is important in the context of rapid urbanization and the growing number of poor people in African cities. Apart from country-specific factors, the results confirm the strong integration of agriculture with the economy. The growth of key agricultural activities presents the most pronounced multiplicative effect on the income of rural households in the lowest quantiles. Poor urban households also benefit from their growth, but not to the same extent as rural households with an increase in the rural–urban income gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic growth is considered to be the most important factor for achieving a lower level of poverty, but burgeoning inequality could affect poverty reduction adversely. This article decomposes the change in both rural and urban poverty into what can be termed as 'growth effect' and 'distribution effect' for twenty major Indian states during India's highest growth episode (2004–2011). It further examines the pro-poorness of the growth in these states. One of our key findings is that while income growth plays a key role in rural poverty reduction, rising inequality appears to be a major hindrance with respect to urban poverty. Our investigation also suggests that higher growth is not necessarily pro-poor. If the growth process itself is iniquitous, it might reduce the poverty elasticity of income and, in turn, result in slower poverty reduction despite high growth. This being specifically relevant for urban India and with urban poverty increasingly becoming a serious concern, economic policymakers should adopt a policy paradigm ensuring a more inclusive urban growth instead of considering growth as a panacea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to examine how Nigeria's economic growth over the past two decades has contributed to poverty reduction. Method -- This study adopted the desktop research method of qualitative and quantitative data and used various sources, including academic journals, publications, books, articles, and reports. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Nigeria, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Human Development Report, the World Bank Indicators, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin are all places where secondary statistical data comes from. Result -- Nigerian economy has experienced significant growth over the last two decades, but poverty rates in the country remain high. We also discovered that the Nigerian economy's high level of inequality, corruption, jobless growth, and monocity are some issues that have hindered the translation of economic growth into significant poverty reduction. Recommendation -- Based on the analysis of this research and the peculiarity of the Nigerian economy, this paper recommends that diversification of the economy, investment in public services, and policies that encourage pro-poor growth are effective strategies that would lead to more significant poverty reduction. In addition, there is a need to study the nature of inequality in Nigeria. An in-depth study needs to be done on income inequality and the multidimensional forms of inequality prevalent in the country. Contribution - Research on economic growth and poverty in Nigeria mostly concentrated on the relationship between these variables. Only a few studies have investigated why the poverty rate continues to rise amid economic growth. This study tries to fill this gap and contribute empirically to the current literature on economic growth and poverty in Nigeria by studying the economic situations and factors surrounding the country's rising poverty rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper aims to examine how Nigeria's economic growth over the past two decades has contributed to poverty reduction. Method — This study adopted the desktop research method of qualitative and quantitative data and used various sources, including academic journals, publications, books, articles, and reports. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Nigeria, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Human Development Report, the World Bank Indicators, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin are all places where secondary statistical data comes from. Result — Nigerian economy has experienced significant growth over the last two decades, but poverty rates in the country remain high. We also discovered that the Nigerian economy's high level of inequality, corruption, jobless growth, and monocity are some issues that have hindered the translation of economic growth into significant poverty reduction. Recommendation — Based on the analysis of this research and the peculiarity of the Nigerian economy, this paper recommends that diversification of the economy, investment in public services, and policies that encourage pro-poor growth are effective strategies that would lead to more significant poverty reduction. In addition, there is a need to study the nature of inequality in Nigeria. An in-depth study needs to be done on income inequality and the multidimensional forms of inequality prevalent in the country. Contribution — Research on economic growth and poverty in Nigeria mostly concentrated on the relationship between these variables. Only a few studies have investigated why the poverty rate continues to rise amid economic growth. This study tries to fill this gap and contribute empirically to the current literature on economic growth and poverty in Nigeria by studying the economic situations and factors surrounding the country's rising poverty rate.

• The study provides a new conceptual framework to account for pro-poor economic development. • This is achieved by extending political settlements analysis with a critical investigation of growth–poverty linkages. • We apply this framework to the recent trajectories of Laos and Rwanda. • We show to what extent Laos and Rwanda have implemented pro-poor development strategies and how they have done so. • This is the first comparative study of the political economy of Laos and Rwanda. Political settlements analysis is a framework that helps us understand different development trajectories. While it has been used to study the politics of pro-poor growth, there has been little explicit engagement with the economic mechanisms that may alleviate or reproduce poverty. This article extends the political settlements approach to that effect and presents a new, integrated framework to account for pro-poor economic development by conceptualizing political conditions as well as key mechanisms – employment and social provision – linking growth and poverty. This framework is empirically applied to scrutinize two recent development 'success stories', those of Laos and Rwanda. Both countries have emerged from a violent past to record over two decades of fast economic growth. The paper assesses how they have done so and to what extent their development strategies have been pro-poor. We demonstrate that the combination of economic growth and of centralized and ideologically committed ruling coalitions has enabled large-scale investments in social service provision that have spearheaded significant reductions in multidimensional poverty in Laos and Rwanda. Moreover, key governance capabilities have enabled both countries to achieve a certain degree of structural change. Yet, this change has been misdirected to extractive industries and hydropower (Laos) and high-end services (Rwanda) with weak employment and limited forward and backward linkages, compounded by a relative lack of productivity growth in the historically more relevant agricultural and manufacturing sectors. This has intensified land pressures and vulnerability, leading to increased inequality in Laos and sustaining already high levels of inequality in Rwanda. Using the ambitious conception of pro-poor development that underpins our integrated framework, we problematize these growth trajectories and argue that neither of them has been pro-poor. We recommend that researchers advance political settlements analysis to examine and strengthen the possibilities for social justice-oriented and bottom-up pro-poor development strategies more systematically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade openness supposes a key component of the strategy for growth. The study consists of 45 developing nations of Asia and Africa. And data ranges from 1995-2020, collected from The World Bank. Theoretically the impact of trade openness on poverty and income inequality is ambiguous. GMM methodology uses to an estimate the result. Findings explore that trade has no direct effect on poverty but inequality associated with trade openness. Economic growth found pro-poor which favors the poor on one side and on trade openness on other side. To get the positive effect of trade on poverty and inequality it does not matter that trade is more open or less open. The fruit depends on the policies regarding trade. Financial development support trade openness along with taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is concerned with studying the pro-poor growth by introducing the various theoretical approaches that addressed the pro-poor growth, and then analyzing the phenomenon of poverty and its most important characteristics in Algeria and determining the characteristics of disparity in the distribution of income in Algeria. The study also used few indicators to determine the extent to which growth favors the poor in Algeria. The most important findings of the study were that economic growth was modest in favor of the poor, and this favoritism was not the result of the fruits of economic growth, but rather as a result of the redistribution of income as a result of the expansion of public spending in Algeria, which depends on oil rents during the period 2000-2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The study examines the relationship between growth–inequality–poverty (GIP) triangle and crime rate under the premises of inverted U-shaped Kuznets curve and pro-poor growth scenario in a panel of 16 diversified countries, over a period of 1990–2014. The study employed panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator for robust inferences. The results show that there is (i) no/flat relationship between per capita income and crime rate; (ii) U-shaped relationship between poverty headcount and per capita income and (iii) inverted U-shaped relationship between income inequality and economic growth in a panel of selected countries. Income inequality and unemployment rate increases crime rate while trade openness supports to decrease crime rate. Crime rate substantially increases income inequality while health expenditures decrease poverty headcount ratio. Per capita income is influenced by high poverty incidence, whereas health expenditures and trade factor both amplify per capita income across countries. The results of pro-poor growth analysis show that though the crime rate decreases in the years 2000–2004 and 2010–2014, while the growth phase was anti-poor due to unequal distribution of income. Pro-poor education and health trickle down to the lower income strata group for the years 2010–2014, as education and health reforms considerably reduce crime rate during the time period.

This paper evaluates whether recent economic growth/recession in Brazil was pro-poor during the period of 2006–2016 and compares the boom and recession periods. The results show that in boom periods, the growth in Brazil is pro-poor but not pro-ultrapoor. While the recession is anti-poor especially anti-ultrapoor and such worsened inequality dominates the increasing trend of poverty in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to evaluate pro‐poor growth based on individual labour market attributions and aggregate variables for Brazilian states: inequality, sectoral economic growth (agriculture, industry and services) and social policies, Programa Bolsa Família and the Benefício de Prestação Continuada. The methodology was a two‐step estimation. The first stage, called the 'first cross‐sectional stage', involves estimation by binary choice models that relate poverty levels to the individual attributes and positions in the labour market. In the second stage, poverty was assessed in terms of inequality, economic growth and social policies, aggregated for Brazilian states using a dynamic panel. The results obtained showed that sectoral economic growth and assistance policies have a strong impact on extreme poverty; for the other poverty ranges, the most relevant variables were the reduction of inequality and sectoral economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic & Managerial Researshes is the property of Faculty of Economic Sciences, Commercial & Managerial Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The concept of 'inclusive growth' (IG) is discussed in a political economy framework. The article reports comparative analysis of economic and planning policy documents from Scotland, England and the UK and findings from expert workshops held in Scotland, which identify four key policy areas for 'inclusive growth': skills, transport and housing for young people; city-regional governance; childcare; and place-making. These policies share with the 'Foundational Economy' an emphasis on everyday infrastructure and services, but add an emphasis on inter-generational justice and stress the importance of community empowerment as much as re-municipalisation. Factors enabling IG policy development include: the necessary political powers; a unifying political discourse and civic institutions; and inclusive governance and participatory democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to evaluate the distribution of economic growth between poor and non-poor in the eight post-communist countries which joined the European Union in 2004. As if the integration process did not pose its own challenges, the overall situation was complicated by the outbreak of the financial and economic crisis in 2009. To address these factors, three periods are examined: the pre-crisis period of 2005–2009, the crisis period of 2010–2013, and the entire period spanning 2005–2013. The methodology applied in analyzing the pattern of pro-poor growth is based on the "poverty equivalent growth rate" approach. Additional insight was obtained from ranking the countries examined based on this growth rate as well as related measures. Interestingly, Hungary and Slovenia appear to be more prone to propagation of growth changes to the incomes of the poor relative to the other countries examined. This had negative repercussions for the poor as negative growth was a hallmark of the crisis period. Our results also show that the substantial growth during the post-accession period up until the crisis was not pro-poor in an absolute sense in any of the countries under examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Paraguay has experienced economic growth rates that were among the highest in the region. However, this growth has not managed to reverse poverty levels above 25 percent and persistent inequality in the distribution of income. This forces us to rethink economic growth based on new indicators that incorporate qualitative elements.

This paper assesses the factors driving inclusiveness in Vietnam's rural transformation by comparing the two rice deltas of the country since reunification in 1975. In order to achieve this, a pro-poor institutional development approach based on Adelman is applied. We focus on asset-oriented, demand-generating and price-increasing interventions. Our findings point out that the experienced growth might be considered inclusive, but the dynamics of poverty reduction, income generation, and productivity-enhancement are substantially different in the two delta economies. This might have implications for the prospects of Vietnam's continuation in a 'growth with equity' model, if policies and innovations are not locally adjusted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia offers a unique example of a centrally planned economy swiftly transforming itself into a market-oriented economy. We offer a comprehensive study of inequality and mobility patterns for Russia, using multiple rounds of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Surveys over the past two decades spanning this transition. We find rising income levels and decreasing inequality, with the latter being mostly caused by pro-poor growth rather than redistribution. The poorest tercile experienced a growth rate that was more than 10 times that of the richest tercile, leading to less long-term inequality than short-term inequality. We also find that switching from a part-time job to a full-time job, from a lower-skill job to a higher-skill job or staying in the formal sector is statistically significantly associated with reduced downward mobility and income growth. However, a transition from the private sector to the public sector is negatively associated with income growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the relationship between growth–inequality–poverty (GIP) triangle and crime rate under the premises of inverted U-shaped Kuznets curve and pro-poor growth scenario in a panel of 16 diversified countries, over a period of 1990–2014. The study employed panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator for robust inferences. The results show that there is (i) no/flat relationship between per capita income and crime rate; (ii) U-shaped relationship between poverty headcount and per capita income and (iii) inverted U-shaped relationship between income inequality and economic growth in a panel of selected countries. Income inequality and unemployment rate increases crime rate while trade openness supports to decrease crime rate. Crime rate substantially increases income inequality while health expenditures decrease poverty headcount ratio. Per capita income is influenced by high poverty incidence, whereas health expenditures and trade factor both amplify per capita income across countries. The results of pro-poor growth analysis show that though the crime rate decreases in the years 2000–2004 and 2010–2014, while the growth phase was anti-poor due to unequal distribution of income. Pro-poor education and health trickle down to the lower income strata group for the years 2010–2014, as education and health reforms considerably reduce crime rate during the time period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates whether the poor elderly benefited more than the non-poor elderly from growth in urban China between 2005 and 2015. The results show that although elderly income in urban China has increased overall, the poor elderly benefited less than the non-poor elderly. Growth is absolutely pro-poor but not relatively pro-poor, which has slowed the process of poverty reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covering 460 annual observations of 124 countries for the period 2010–2013, the unbalanced panel is examined the long-run relationships between the Growth- Inequality-Poverty (GIP) triangle by using the pooled mean group estimator, which allows short-run dynamics, error correction, and error variance that differ across countries. The results show that income inequality increases poverty head counts, whereas average household income decreases poverty. The results show that 75 countries exhibit pro-poor growth (PPG), 8 countries show antipoor growth, and 41 countries show "immiserizing growth," whereas a larger share of pro-poor growth episodes among the cross-sections is found in the aggregated panel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of transition in Macedonia, as in other former socialist countries, has affected every domain of the political, economic, and social life. Generally, the transitional reforms initially had negative effects on labour markets, which were manifested in declining participation rates and persistent high unemployment. Long spells of unemployment have been leading to the degradation and dehumanisation of individuals in society, causing poverty and social exclusion and increasing the government’s burden of providing the necessary safety net. Having in mind the rising poverty during transition, poverty reduction has become one of the highest priorities in the development policy of the Macedonian government. According to the theory, the poverty reduction objective can be achieved by faster growth and/or greater equity. In this regard, achieving an optimal combination of these two channels appears to be primarily a pragmatic issue. The aim of this paper is to assess the effects of growth and inequality on poverty in a country specific context for Macedonia. For this purpose, we first estimate the poverty growth and inequality elasticity for the period from 2000 to 2014 and we find that a higher level of inequality would reduce the poverty reduction efficiency of growth. In addition, we calculate the theoretically well established indicators such as: the inequality-growth trade-off index and pro-poor growth index which show that the growth in Macedonia during the above specified period has been generally anti-poor. Finally, we formulate policy recommendations for improving the living standard of the poor and for achieving more equitable growth.

This paper estimates child income poverty in rural China and evaluates the pro-poor nature of income growth during the period 2005–2015. The results show that the growth is absolutely pro-poor but not relatively pro-poor. Although the child poverty level in rural China has decreased, the relative income level of children at the bottom levels of income decreased and the inequality level among rural children increased, which slowed the process of poverty reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developmental triangle earlier comprises economic growth, income inequality, and poverty, while in this study, we extended it by incorporating environmental and resource factors, health and education factors, sectoral value added, and some other growth-specific factors for assessing pro-poor growth, by considering Bolivian economy as a case study. The elasticity estimates show that agriculture and industrial sector growth is not pro-poor due to account of high income inequality, while services sector played a vital role in country's economic development and supports poor livelihood in a country. Energy and environmental resources negatively impact on quality of life of the poor relative to non-poor, which create income differences among them. Health and education expenditures give favors to the poor and supported the notion of pro-poor growth, while country's per capita income and foreign direct investment inflows increase income inequality that lead towards pro-rich growth. The results conclude that, in general, Bolivian economy growth is fairly unstable, polluted, and unhealthy that biased to the poor relative to non-poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey 2008, we explore the differences in pro‐poor growth performance in provinces in Vietnam according to the quality of the provinces' institutions that support private sector activity. We exploit the localized and varying effect of French colonial legacy across Vietnamese provinces to address the endogeneity of institutions. We find strong and robust evidence of a positive effect of good‐quality institutions that support private sector activity on pro‐poor growth and that enhanced working hours and hourly wage and extended income from non‐farm self‐employment play critical roles in this outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed child income poverty in China from 2005 to 2015 using data obtained from the Chinese General Social Survey. Building on the Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) methodology, this study estimated the headcount, poverty gap and poverty severity indexes of all children and the poverty gap of poor children. Subgroup decomposition, growth-redistribution decomposition of poverty changes and pro-poor growth measurements were conducted. The results show that the overall poverty level among children was high despite a decreasing trend, and poor children's relative economic status worsened, especially in rural areas; there were large disparities among different groups of children by urban/rural status, ethnicity and hukou. Rural children contributed more to the overall poverty level and poverty changes than urban children. The growth among children is not relatively pro-poor but only absolutely pro-poor, increasing the inequality and finally offsetting the effect of growth on reducing poverty to some extent. • Measuring and performing sub-group and growth-redistribution decomposition of child income poverty throughout China. • There are still a large number of children living in poverty in China despite a decreasing trend. • Growth among children in China is absolutely pro-poor but not relatively pro-poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of income inequality and income mobility has been central to understanding India's recent economic development. This paper, based on the first two waves of the India Human Development survey data, addresses three questions namely; (a) examining recent trends and sources of income inequality and their sources in rural and urban India, (b) whether households belonging to different socio-occupational groups have grown together and thereby factors relating to dynamic income distribution and finally (c) provides an analytical framework within which changes in income inequality over time are related to the extent to which income growth is pro-poor and to the extent of income reranking or mobility. Our results show the equalizing effect of progressive income growth was more than offset by the disequalising effect of reranking in India during the study period resulting in income inequality both in the rural and urban area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of Latin American countries in reducing poverty and expanding the middle class has been remarkable. By taking a close look at the Peruvian experience, we examine how this aggregate behavior relates to business cycle conditions and whether different population groups share this behavior. We find that social mobility is cyclical; it decreases in recessions but increases with strong economic growth. The reduction in poverty in Peru appears to be the result of a sustained increase in the poverty exit rate together with a prolonged decrease in the poverty entry rate. These results hold among heterogeneous groups and are particularly marked for households regarded as initially disadvantaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper analyses the role of good governance in fostering pro-poor and inclusive growth. Using a sample of 112 countries over 1975-2012, it shows that growth is generally pro-poor. However, growth has not been inclusive, as illustrated by a decline in the bottom 20 percent of the income distribution. While all features of good governance support income growth and reduce poverty, only government effectiveness and the rule of law are found to enhance inclusive growth. The investigation of the determinants of pro-poor and inclusive growth highlights that education, infrastructure improvement, and financial development are the key factors in poverty reduction and inclusive growth. Relying on the panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model, the paper identifies a nonlinear relationship between governance and pro-poor growth, while the impact of governance on inclusive growth appears to be linear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The environmental sustainability agenda is not easy to be achieved without implementing pro-growth and pro-poor growth policies across the globe. Pakistan's economy is no exception that strive hard to managed environmental resource capital and pro-poor growth expenditures in order to reduce poverty incidence and carbon mitigation policies, while many efforts need more sustainable instruments to be achieved United Nation's assigned sustainable development target till 2030. The study selected an annual time series data from 1975 to 2016 and employed two –step Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator for robust inferences. The results show that higher economic growth decreases poverty incidence through social reforms, while, deforestation, under −5 mortality rate, trade openness, carbon emissions, and FDI inflows largely increases poverty incidence in a country. The study confirmed Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis of carbon emissions in relation of per capita income and public spending on education, while 'pollution haven hypothesis' is confirmed due to high involvement of dirty polluting industries in country's economic transformation process. The fossil fuel combustion and high population density increases carbon emissions that sabotage the process of sustainable development in a country. Thus, it is imperative to device sustainable policies for mitigating carbon-fossil emissions with cleaner production techniques and improves the quality of life of poor people through increase social expenditures that trickle down to the poor as compared to the non-poor. Highlights • To assess the twin agenda of pro-poor growth and sustainable development in Pakistan. • Higher economic growth decreases poverty incidence through social reforms. • Deforestation, under −5 mortality, trade, CO2 emissions, and FDI increases poverty incidence. • The EKC hypothesis of CO2 emissions is found with income and education. • The 'pollution haven hypothesis' is confirmed in a country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]