Les déterminants de la réduction de l'inégalité et de la pauvreté en Mauritanie : une approche micro-économique

Based on two household surveys, carried out by 1990 and 1996, the present study examines micro-economic factors of the reduction of the poverty and the inequality in Mauritania. Firstly, according to econometric estimations, the per capita consumption of rural and urban households is influenced by the education of the head of household - despite the decline of returns between 1990 and 1996 -, the access to labour market, the geographic location and the demography of groups. Secondly, the decomposition of per capita consumption gaps for each sector, between 1990 and 1996, shows that these last are mainly explained by the differential of returns of household characteristic taken into account. Positive effects on the reduction of the poverty in the two sectors, between 1990 and 1996, of the geographic location, some demographic variables and rate of employment per household, have been counterbalanced by others demographic factors, and especially the negative impact of the returns of the education, a phenomenon probably related to the increase of urban unemployment in Mauritania. Thirdly,the unconditional group decomposition of the national Gini index suggests that the inequality of the per capita consumption is mainly explained by the within group inequality. But, between 1990 and 1996,the reduction of the Gini index of 8,6 points has been accompanied by alesser within group inequality -rural-urban - of the per capita consumption, a greatest homogeneity of sectors - diminution of the index of stratification - and a growth of between group inequality, a pattern of development that would seem different the process of Kuznets. Fourthly, the determinants of between group inequality show significant differences between sectors : (i) strong influence of the education and weak impact of the level of occupation in urban zones, comparatively to the rural sector ; (ii) relative stability of the déterminants in countryside between 1990 and 1996, contrarily to agglomerations where one observes a strong reduction of the contribution of the education and the occupation of the head of household, and an elevation of the impact of the geographic location. (Full text in French)