IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/dp2003-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Reforms, Remoteness and Risk in Africa: Understanding Inequality and Poverty during the 1990s

Author

Listed:
  • Luc Christiaensen
  • Lionel Demery
  • Stefano Paternostro

Abstract

This study traces the interactions between economic growth, income inequality and consumption poverty in a sample of African countries during the 1990s. It draws on the much-improved household data sets now available in the region. It finds that experiences have varied: some countries have seen sharp falls in income poverty; others have witnessed marked increases. Economic growth has been 'pro-poor' in that the incomes of poor households have typically grown at similar or faster rates than average income.

Suggested Citation

  • Luc Christiaensen & Lionel Demery & Stefano Paternostro, 2003. "Reforms, Remoteness and Risk in Africa: Understanding Inequality and Poverty during the 1990s," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2003-70, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:dp2003-70
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/dp2003-070.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Awudu Abdulai & Christopher Delgado, 2000. "An Empirical Investigation of Short- and Long-run Agricultural Wage Formation in Ghana," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 169-185.
    2. Guillaumont, Patrick & Jeanneney, Sylviane Guillaumont & Brun, Jean-Francois, 1999. "How Instability Lowers African Growth," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 8(1), pages 87-107, March.
    3. Bigsten, Arne & Kebede, Bereket & Shimeles, Abebe & Taddesse, Mekonnen, 2003. "Growth and Poverty Reduction in Ethiopia: Evidence from Household Panel Surveys," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 87-106, January.
    4. Quah, Danny T., 1996. "Regional convergence clusters across Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 951-958, April.
    5. Ravallion, Martin, 2002. "Externalities in rural development - evidence for China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2879, The World Bank.
    6. Kanbur Ravi, 2001. "Economic Policy, Distribution and Poverty: The Nature of Disagreements," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 122-145, April.
    7. William A. Brock & Steven N.Durlauf, 2000. "Growth Economics and Reality," NBER Working Papers 8041, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Pernia, Ernesto & Kakwani, Nanak, 2000. "What is Pro-poor Growth?," MPRA Paper 104987, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Jan Willem Gunning & Paul Collier, 1999. "Explaining African Economic Performance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 64-111, March.
    10. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-766, May.
    11. Donald R. Davis & David E. Weinstein, 2001. "Market Size, Linkages, and Productivity: A Study of Japanese Regions," NBER Working Papers 8518, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Simon Appleton & Tom Emwanu & Johnson Kagugube & James Muwonge, 1999. "Changes in poverty in Uganda, 1992-1997," CSAE Working Paper Series 1999-22, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    13. Kherallah, Mylène & Delgado, Christopher L. & Gabre-Madhin, Eleni Z. & Minot, Nicholas & Johnson, Michael, 2002. "Reforming agricultural markets in Africa," Food policy statements 38, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    14. Ravallion, Martin, 2001. "Growth, Inequality and Poverty: Looking Beyond Averages," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1803-1815, November.
    15. Neil McCulloch & Bob Baulch & Milasoa Cherel-Robson, 2000. "Poverty, Inequality and Growth in Zambia during the 1990s," Econometrics 0004004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Stefan Dercon, 2002. "The Impact of Economic Reforms in Rural Households in Ethiopia : A Study from 1989 to 1995," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13980.
    17. Besley, Timothy, 1995. "Savings, credit and insurance," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 36, pages 2123-2207, Elsevier.
    18. Costas Megir & Danny Quah, 1996. "Regional Convergence Clusters Across Europe," CEP Discussion Papers dp0274, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    19. Jeffrey Alwang & Bradford F. Mills & Nelson Taruvinga, 2002. "Why Has Poverty Increased in Zimbabwe?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14060.
    20. Badiane, Ousmane & Shively, Gerald E., 1998. "Spatial integration, transport costs, and the response of local prices to policy changes in Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 411-431, August.
    21. Delgado, Christopher L. & Hopkins, Jane & Kelly , Valerie & Hazell, P. B. R. & McKenna, Anna A. & Gruhn, Peter & Hojjati, Behjat & Sil, Jayashree & Courbois, Claude, 1998. "Agricultural growth linkages in Sub-Saharan Africa:," Research reports 107, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    22. Quah, Danny, 1996. "Regional Convergence Clusters Across Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 1286, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    23. Christian Morrisson, 1992. "Adjustment and Equity," OECD Development Centre Policy Briefs 1, OECD Publishing.
    24. Jonathan Morduch, 1995. "Income Smoothing and Consumption Smoothing," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 103-114, Summer.
    25. Abdulai, Awudu, 2000. "Spatial price transmission and asymmetry in the Ghanaian maize market," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 327-349, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Geoffrey Wood * & Pauline Dibben, 2005. "Ports and shipping in Mozambique: current concerns and policy options," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 139-157, April.
    2. Christiaensen, Luc & Demery, Lionel & Kuhl, Jesper, 2006. "The role of agriculture in poverty reduction an empirical perspective," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4013, The World Bank.
    3. Andries M. Heyns & Robert Banick, 2024. "Optimisation of rural roads planning based on multi-modal travel: a multi-service accessibility study in Nepal’s remote Karnali Province," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 567-613, April.
    4. Stefan Dercon, 2009. "Rural Poverty: Old Challenges in New Contexts," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 1-28, April.
    5. Erenstein, Olaf, 2006. "Intensification or extensification? Factors affecting technology use in peri-urban lowlands along an agro-ecological gradient in West Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-3), pages 132-158, October.
    6. Luc J. Christiaensen & Kalanidhi Subbarao, 2005. "Towards an Understanding of Household Vulnerability in Rural Kenya," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 14(4), pages 520-558, December.
    7. Pieter Rutsaert & Jordan Chamberlin & Kevin Ong’are Oluoch & Victor Ochieng Kitoto & Jason Donovan, 2021. "The geography of agricultural input markets in rural Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(6), pages 1379-1391, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Luc Christiaensen & Lionel Demery & Stefano Paternostro, 2002. "Growth, Distribution, and Poverty in Africa : Messages from the 1990s," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15215.
    2. Olivier Parent & Abdallah Zouache, 2009. "Geographical Features vs. Institutional Factors: New Perspectives on The Growth of Africa and Middle-East," Working Papers 490, Economic Research Forum, revised Jun 2009.
    3. L. ALAN WINTERS & NEIL McCULLOCH & ANDREW McKAY, 2015. "Trade Liberalization and Poverty: The Evidence So Far," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Non-Tariff Barriers, Regionalism and Poverty Essays in Applied International Trade Analysis, chapter 14, pages 271-314, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Nanak Kakwani & Hyun H. Son, 2003. "Pro-poor Growth: Concepts and Measurement with Country Case Studies," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 417-444.
    5. Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "Growth, Inequality and Poverty Relationships," IZA Discussion Papers 1338, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Kerstin Enflo & Per Hjertstrand, 2009. "Relative Sources of European Regional Productivity Convergence: A Bootstrap Frontier Approach," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 643-659.
    7. Rok Spruk, 2021. "Regional convergence and trade liberalization under weak state capacity: evidence from Mexico," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 18(2), pages 173-216, December.
    8. Vicente Rios Ibañez, 2014. "What drives regional unemployment convergence?," ERSA conference papers ersa14p924, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Massimiliano Affinito, 2011. "Convergence clubs, the euro-area rank and the relationship between banking and real convergence," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 809, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Kebede, Sindu & Fekadu, Belay & Aredo, Dejene, 2011. "Trade Liberalization and Poverty: A Macro-Micro Analysis in Ethiopia," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 44, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    11. Burhan Can Karahasan, 2020. "Can neighbor regions shape club convergence? Spatial Markov chain analysis for Turkey," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 117-131, August.
    12. Gregory Corcos & Massimo Del Gatto & Giordano Mion & Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, 2012. "Productivity and Firm Selection: Quantifying the ‘New’ Gains from Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(561), pages 754-798, June.
    13. Forte, Anabel & Peiró-Palomino, Jesús & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2015. "Does social capital matter for European regional growth?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 47-64.
    14. G Ottaviano & Diego Puga, 1997. "Agglomeration in a global Economy: A Survey," CEP Discussion Papers dp0356, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    15. Casella, Alessandra, 2005. "Redistribution policy: A European model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(7), pages 1305-1331, July.
    16. Maria Carmen Cuerva, 2011. "Dynamics of European agricultural productivity: An analysis of regional convergence," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 92(3), pages 237-258.
    17. Jesus Lopez-Rodriguez & Andres Faiña, 2009. "Regional Policy and Convergence in Europe: The Case of Backward Regions," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(2), pages 1046-1053.
    18. Boiscuvier, Éléonore, 2001. "Innovation, intégration et développement régional," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 77(2), pages 255-280, juin.
    19. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:529-556 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Inmaculada Garcia-Mainar & Victor Montuenga-Gomez, 2003. "The Spanish Wage Curve: 1994-1996," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 929-945.
    21. Giovanni Caggiano & Leone Leonida, 2013. "Multimodality in the distribution of GDP and the absolute convergence hypothesis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 1203-1215, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:dp2003-70. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.