Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: Prospects for Pro-poor Economic Development

The relationship between growth, inequality, and poverty lies at the heart of development economics. This volume draws together many of the most important recent contributions to the controversies surrounding this topic. Some of the chapters help explain why there is profound disagreement on crucial issues of growth, poverty and inequality within academic circles, and among organizations and various groups active in the development field. Another central theme is the cross-country evidence on the relationship between growth and poverty, and the extent to which it is valid to draw policy conclusions from this empirical evidence. The volume also shows how new microeconomic techniques such as poverty maps and microsimulation models can be used to improve poverty analysis and the design of pro-poor policies. The overall conclusion points to the need for diverse strategies towards growth and poverty, rather than simple blanket policy rules. Initial conditions, specific country structures, and time horizons all play a significant role. Initial conditions affect the speed with which growth reduces poverty and can also determine whether policies such as trade liberalization have a pro-poor or an anti-poor outcome. Improved education is valuable in itself, and also contributes to poverty reduction; but its effect on inequality depends on supply and demand factors, which differ significantly across countries. Likewise, the quantitative impact on poverty of redistribution from the rich to the poor vis-a-vis an increase in total national income can vary greatly across countries. Hence the need for creative approaches to poverty which take full account of the specific circumstances of individual nations and which assign a central role to inequality analysis in the discussion of poverty-alleviation policies. Contributors to this volume - Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Department of Economics, London School of Economics Arne Bigsten, Goteborg University Hulya Dagdeviren, Business School, University of Hertfordshire Gabriel Demombynes, University of California, Berkeley, David Dollar, World Bank Research Department Chris Elbers, Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam Francisco H. G. Ferreira, World Bank Research Department Michael Grimm, European Centre for Research in Development Economics Erich Gundlach, Kiel Institute of World Economics Rasmus Heltberg, World Bank Rolph van der Hoeven, Technical Secretariat of the World Commission on Globalization Ravi Kanbur, Cornell University Aart Kraay, World Bank Development Research Group Jean O. Lanjouw, Brookings Institution Peter Lanjouw, World Bank Development Economics Research Group Phillipe George Leite, Department of Economics, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro Jorgen Levin, Department of Economics, Orebro University Johan Mistiaen, World Bank Development Research Group Felix Naschold, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University Berk Ozler, World Bank Development Research Group Poverty Cluster Jose Navarro de Pablo, Group Public Policy International of UBS Martin Ravallion, World Bank Research Department John Weeks, School of Oriental and African Studies and the Centre for Development Policy and Research Natascha Weisert, Graduate Institute of International Studies