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The Effect of IMF and World Bank Programmes on Poverty

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  • William Easterly

Abstract

Structural adjustment, as measured by the number of adjustment loans from the IMF and World Bank, reduces the growth elasticity of poverty reduction. Growth does reduce poverty, but I find no evidence for a direct effect of structural adjustment on growth. Instead, the poor benefit less from output expansion in countries with many adjustment loans than in countries with few adjustment loans. By the same token, the poor suffer less from an output contraction in countries with many adjustment loans than in countries with few adjustment loans.

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  • William Easterly, 2001. "The Effect of IMF and World Bank Programmes on Poverty," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2001-102, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:dp2001-102
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    1. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 1997. "What Can New Survey Data Tell Us about Recent Changes in Distribution and Poverty?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(2), pages 357-382, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mwangi S. Kimenyi, 2006. "Economic Reforms and Pro-Poor Growth: Lessons for Africa and other Developing Regions and Economies in Transition," Working papers 2006-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    2. Sedjo, Roger A., 2005. "Macroeconomics and Forest Sustainability in the Developing World," Discussion Papers 10458, Resources for the Future.
    3. Malte Lübker & Graham Smith & John Weeks, 2002. "Growth and the poor: a comment on Dollar and Kraay," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(5), pages 555-571.
    4. Raghbendra Jha, 2004. "Macroeconomic stabilization and pro-poor budgetary policy in the globalized economy," CAMA Working Papers 2004-08, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    5. Parikh, Priti & Fu, Kun & Parikh, Himanshu & McRobie, Allan & George, Gerard, 2015. "Infrastructure Provision, Gender, and Poverty in Indian Slums," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 468-486.
    6. Sedjo, Roger, 2005. "Macroeconomics and Forest Sustainability in the Developing World," RFF Working Paper Series dp-05-47, Resources for the Future.
    7. Muhammet Enes Kayagil, 2020. "Changes in Poverty-fighting Tools: From “Traditional” to “New Tendencies”," Journal of Social Policy Conferences, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 0(79), pages 24-53, December.

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