Author: Douglas J. Besharov
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199860599
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
The poverty rate is one of the most visible ways in which nations measure the economic well-being of their low-income citizens. To gauge whether a person is poor, European states often focus on a person's relative position in the income distribution to measure poverty while the United States looks at a fixed-income threshold that represents a lower relative standing in the overall distribution to gauge. In Europe, low income is perceived as only one aspect of being socially excluded, so that examining other relative dimensions of family and individual welfare is important. This broad emphasis on relative measures of well-being that extend into non-pecuniary aspects of people's lives does not always imply that more people would ultimately be counted as poor. This is particularly true if one must be considered poor in multiple dimensions to be considered poor, in sharp contrast to the American emphasis on income as the sole dimension. With contributions from the world's foremost authorities on income and social measurement, the book provides detailed discussions of specific issues from a European perspective followed by commentary from American observers. The volume considers (1) current standards of poverty measurement in the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, (2) challenges in extending those measures to account for the value of the provision of in-kind and cash benefits from the government, (3) the interaction of poverty measures with social assistance, (4) non-income but monetary measures of poverty, and (5) multi-dimensional measures of poverty. The result is a definitive reference for poverty researchers and policymakers seeking to disengage politics from measurement.
Counting the Poor
Author: Douglas J. Besharov
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199860599
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
The poverty rate is one of the most visible ways in which nations measure the economic well-being of their low-income citizens. To gauge whether a person is poor, European states often focus on a person's relative position in the income distribution to measure poverty while the United States looks at a fixed-income threshold that represents a lower relative standing in the overall distribution to gauge. In Europe, low income is perceived as only one aspect of being socially excluded, so that examining other relative dimensions of family and individual welfare is important. This broad emphasis on relative measures of well-being that extend into non-pecuniary aspects of people's lives does not always imply that more people would ultimately be counted as poor. This is particularly true if one must be considered poor in multiple dimensions to be considered poor, in sharp contrast to the American emphasis on income as the sole dimension. With contributions from the world's foremost authorities on income and social measurement, the book provides detailed discussions of specific issues from a European perspective followed by commentary from American observers. The volume considers (1) current standards of poverty measurement in the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, (2) challenges in extending those measures to account for the value of the provision of in-kind and cash benefits from the government, (3) the interaction of poverty measures with social assistance, (4) non-income but monetary measures of poverty, and (5) multi-dimensional measures of poverty. The result is a definitive reference for poverty researchers and policymakers seeking to disengage politics from measurement.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199860599
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
The poverty rate is one of the most visible ways in which nations measure the economic well-being of their low-income citizens. To gauge whether a person is poor, European states often focus on a person's relative position in the income distribution to measure poverty while the United States looks at a fixed-income threshold that represents a lower relative standing in the overall distribution to gauge. In Europe, low income is perceived as only one aspect of being socially excluded, so that examining other relative dimensions of family and individual welfare is important. This broad emphasis on relative measures of well-being that extend into non-pecuniary aspects of people's lives does not always imply that more people would ultimately be counted as poor. This is particularly true if one must be considered poor in multiple dimensions to be considered poor, in sharp contrast to the American emphasis on income as the sole dimension. With contributions from the world's foremost authorities on income and social measurement, the book provides detailed discussions of specific issues from a European perspective followed by commentary from American observers. The volume considers (1) current standards of poverty measurement in the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, (2) challenges in extending those measures to account for the value of the provision of in-kind and cash benefits from the government, (3) the interaction of poverty measures with social assistance, (4) non-income but monetary measures of poverty, and (5) multi-dimensional measures of poverty. The result is a definitive reference for poverty researchers and policymakers seeking to disengage politics from measurement.
Perspectives on Poverty in India
Author: The World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821387286
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Book Description
The book examines India s experience with poverty reduction in a period of rapid economic growth. Marshalling evidence from multiple sources of survey data and drawing on new methods, the book asks how India s structural transformation - from rural to urban, and from agriculture to nonfarm sectors - is impacting poverty. Our analysis suggests that since the early 1990s, urban growth has emerged as a much more important driver of poverty reduction than in the past. We focus in particular on the role of small and medium size conurbations in India, both as the urban sub-sector in which urban poverty is overwhelmingly concentrated, and as a sub-sector that could potentially stimulate rural-based poverty reduction. Second, in rural areas, we focus on the nature of intersectoral transformation out of agriculture into the nonfarm economy. Stagnation in agriculture has been accompanied by dynamism in the nonfarm sector, but there is much debate about whether the growth seen has been a symptom of agrarian distress or a source of poverty reduction. Finally, alongside the accelerating economic growth and the highly visible transformation that is occurring in India s major cities, inequality is on the rise. This is raising concern that economic growth in India has by-passed significant segments of the population. The third theme on social exclusion asks if, despite the dramatic growth, historically grounded inequalities along lines of caste, tribe and gender have persisted. This book would be of interest for policymakers, researchers, non-governmental organizations, and international agencies from India and abroad--who wish to know more about India s experience of the last two decades in reducing poverty.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821387286
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 297
Book Description
The book examines India s experience with poverty reduction in a period of rapid economic growth. Marshalling evidence from multiple sources of survey data and drawing on new methods, the book asks how India s structural transformation - from rural to urban, and from agriculture to nonfarm sectors - is impacting poverty. Our analysis suggests that since the early 1990s, urban growth has emerged as a much more important driver of poverty reduction than in the past. We focus in particular on the role of small and medium size conurbations in India, both as the urban sub-sector in which urban poverty is overwhelmingly concentrated, and as a sub-sector that could potentially stimulate rural-based poverty reduction. Second, in rural areas, we focus on the nature of intersectoral transformation out of agriculture into the nonfarm economy. Stagnation in agriculture has been accompanied by dynamism in the nonfarm sector, but there is much debate about whether the growth seen has been a symptom of agrarian distress or a source of poverty reduction. Finally, alongside the accelerating economic growth and the highly visible transformation that is occurring in India s major cities, inequality is on the rise. This is raising concern that economic growth in India has by-passed significant segments of the population. The third theme on social exclusion asks if, despite the dramatic growth, historically grounded inequalities along lines of caste, tribe and gender have persisted. This book would be of interest for policymakers, researchers, non-governmental organizations, and international agencies from India and abroad--who wish to know more about India s experience of the last two decades in reducing poverty.
Monitoring Global Poverty
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464809623
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Book Description
In 2013, the World Bank Group announced two goals that would guideits operations worldwide. First is the eradication of chronic extremepoverty bringing the number of extremely poor people, defined as thoseliving on less than 1.25 purchasing power parity (PPP)–adjusted dollars aday, to less than 3 percent of the world’s population by 2030.The second isthe boosting of shared prosperity, defined as promoting the growth of percapita real income of the poorest 40 percent of the population ineach country.In 2015, United Nations member nations agreed in New York to a set ofpost-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the first and foremostof which is the eradication of extreme poverty everywhere, in all its forms.Both the language and the spirit of the SDG objective reflect the growingacceptance of the idea that poverty is a multidimensional concept thatreflects multiple deprivations in various aspects of well-being. That said,there is much less agreement on the best ways in which those deprivationsshould be measured, and on whether or how information on them shouldbe aggregated.Monitoring Global Poverty: Report of the Commission on Global Povertyadvises the World Bank on the measurement and monitoring of globalpoverty in two areas:What should be the interpretation of the definition of extremepoverty, set in 2015 in PPP-adjusted dollars a day per person?What choices should the Bank make regarding complementarymonetary and nonmonetary poverty measures to be tracked andmade available to policy makers?The World Bank plays an important role in shaping the global debate oncombating poverty, and the indicators and data that the Bank collates andmakes available shape opinion and actual policies in client countries, and,to a certain extent, in all countries. How we answer the above questionscan therefore have a major influence on the global economy.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464809623
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Book Description
In 2013, the World Bank Group announced two goals that would guideits operations worldwide. First is the eradication of chronic extremepoverty bringing the number of extremely poor people, defined as thoseliving on less than 1.25 purchasing power parity (PPP)–adjusted dollars aday, to less than 3 percent of the world’s population by 2030.The second isthe boosting of shared prosperity, defined as promoting the growth of percapita real income of the poorest 40 percent of the population ineach country.In 2015, United Nations member nations agreed in New York to a set ofpost-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the first and foremostof which is the eradication of extreme poverty everywhere, in all its forms.Both the language and the spirit of the SDG objective reflect the growingacceptance of the idea that poverty is a multidimensional concept thatreflects multiple deprivations in various aspects of well-being. That said,there is much less agreement on the best ways in which those deprivationsshould be measured, and on whether or how information on them shouldbe aggregated.Monitoring Global Poverty: Report of the Commission on Global Povertyadvises the World Bank on the measurement and monitoring of globalpoverty in two areas:What should be the interpretation of the definition of extremepoverty, set in 2015 in PPP-adjusted dollars a day per person?What choices should the Bank make regarding complementarymonetary and nonmonetary poverty measures to be tracked andmade available to policy makers?The World Bank plays an important role in shaping the global debate oncombating poverty, and the indicators and data that the Bank collates andmakes available shape opinion and actual policies in client countries, and,to a certain extent, in all countries. How we answer the above questionscan therefore have a major influence on the global economy.
The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Poverty
Author: David Brady
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199914052
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 937
Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Poverty builds a common scholarly ground in the study of poverty by bringing together an international, inter-disciplinary group of scholars to provide their perspectives on the issue. Contributors engage in discussions about the leading theories and conceptual debates regarding poverty, the most salient topics in poverty research, and the far-reaching consequences of poverty on the individual and societal level.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199914052
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 937
Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Poverty builds a common scholarly ground in the study of poverty by bringing together an international, inter-disciplinary group of scholars to provide their perspectives on the issue. Contributors engage in discussions about the leading theories and conceptual debates regarding poverty, the most salient topics in poverty research, and the far-reaching consequences of poverty on the individual and societal level.
Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464813604
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
The World Bank Group has two overarching goals: End extreme poverty by 2030 and promote shared prosperity by boosting the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of the population in each economy. As this year’s Poverty and Shared Prosperity report documents, the world continues tomake progress toward these goals. In 2015, approximately one-tenth of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty, and the incomes of the bottom 40 percent rose in 77 percent of economies studied.But success cannot be taken for granted. Poverty remains high in Sub- Saharan Africa, as well as in fragile and conflict-affected states. At the same time, most of the world’s poor now live in middle-income countries, which tend to have higher national poverty lines. This year’s report tracks poverty comparisons at two higher poverty thresholds—$3.20 and $5.50 per day—which are typical of standards in lower- and upper-middle-income countries. In addition, the report introduces a societal poverty line based on each economy’s median income or consumption.Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018: Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle also recognizes that poverty is not only about income and consumption—and it introduces a multidimensional poverty measure that adds other factors, such as access to education, electricity, drinking water, and sanitation. It also explores how inequality within households could affect the global profile of the poor.All these additional pieces enrich our understanding of the poverty puzzle, bringing us closer to solving it.For more information, please visit worldbank.org/PSP
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464813604
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
The World Bank Group has two overarching goals: End extreme poverty by 2030 and promote shared prosperity by boosting the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of the population in each economy. As this year’s Poverty and Shared Prosperity report documents, the world continues tomake progress toward these goals. In 2015, approximately one-tenth of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty, and the incomes of the bottom 40 percent rose in 77 percent of economies studied.But success cannot be taken for granted. Poverty remains high in Sub- Saharan Africa, as well as in fragile and conflict-affected states. At the same time, most of the world’s poor now live in middle-income countries, which tend to have higher national poverty lines. This year’s report tracks poverty comparisons at two higher poverty thresholds—$3.20 and $5.50 per day—which are typical of standards in lower- and upper-middle-income countries. In addition, the report introduces a societal poverty line based on each economy’s median income or consumption.Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018: Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle also recognizes that poverty is not only about income and consumption—and it introduces a multidimensional poverty measure that adds other factors, such as access to education, electricity, drinking water, and sanitation. It also explores how inequality within households could affect the global profile of the poor.All these additional pieces enrich our understanding of the poverty puzzle, bringing us closer to solving it.For more information, please visit worldbank.org/PSP
Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309038324
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
There have always been homeless people in the United States, but their plight has only recently stirred widespread public reaction and concern. Part of this new recognition stems from the problem's prevalence: the number of homeless individuals, while hard to pin down exactly, is rising. In light of this, Congress asked the Institute of Medicine to find out whether existing health care programs were ignoring the homeless or delivering care to them inefficiently. This book is the report prepared by a committee of experts who examined these problems through visits to city slums and impoverished rural areas, and through an analysis of papers written by leading scholars in the field.
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309038324
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
There have always been homeless people in the United States, but their plight has only recently stirred widespread public reaction and concern. Part of this new recognition stems from the problem's prevalence: the number of homeless individuals, while hard to pin down exactly, is rising. In light of this, Congress asked the Institute of Medicine to find out whether existing health care programs were ignoring the homeless or delivering care to them inefficiently. This book is the report prepared by a committee of experts who examined these problems through visits to city slums and impoverished rural areas, and through an analysis of papers written by leading scholars in the field.
Counting the Poor in India
Author: Chakravarthy Rangarajan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789332703834
Category : Poverty
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"There has been a considerable amount of debate on how to measure poverty. To review and take a fresh look at the methodology for measurements of poverty, the Government of India appointed an Expert Group (Rangarajan Committee) in June 2012. This book contains the Report of the Expert Group and four other articles which were written subsequently to explain some of the issues that were raised after the publication of the Report. One should choose that poverty line which reflects a carefully calculated minimum level of food and non food requirements. Rangarajan Committee computed a fresh basket in the light of the most recently available minimum requirements of food. It did not simply update an earlier basket using price indices. Also for the first time, minimum non-food requirements for certain categories were included in determining the basket. The four papers of the book discusses various issues on poverty measurement including comparison of Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, estimates of poverty using different cut-off points and the impact of public expenditure on health and education on poverty."--Book jacket.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789332703834
Category : Poverty
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"There has been a considerable amount of debate on how to measure poverty. To review and take a fresh look at the methodology for measurements of poverty, the Government of India appointed an Expert Group (Rangarajan Committee) in June 2012. This book contains the Report of the Expert Group and four other articles which were written subsequently to explain some of the issues that were raised after the publication of the Report. One should choose that poverty line which reflects a carefully calculated minimum level of food and non food requirements. Rangarajan Committee computed a fresh basket in the light of the most recently available minimum requirements of food. It did not simply update an earlier basket using price indices. Also for the first time, minimum non-food requirements for certain categories were included in determining the basket. The four papers of the book discusses various issues on poverty measurement including comparison of Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) data, estimates of poverty using different cut-off points and the impact of public expenditure on health and education on poverty."--Book jacket.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Author: Thomas Piketty
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674979850
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 817
Book Description
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In this work the author analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality. He shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality--the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth--today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values if political action is not taken. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, the author says, and may do so again. This original work reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674979850
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 817
Book Description
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In this work the author analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality. He shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality--the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth--today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values if political action is not taken. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, the author says, and may do so again. This original work reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.
Poverty Comparisons
Author: M. Ravallion
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1136469214
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description
Poverty comparisons - such as whether poverty has increased, or where it is greatest, are typically clouded in conceptual and methodological uncertainties. How should individual well-being be assessed in deciding who is poor? Is a household survey a reliable guide? Where should the poverty line be drawn, and does the choice matter? This monograph surveys the issues that need to be considered in answering these questions, providing an accessible introduction to the most recent literature. The strengths and weaknesses of past methods are discussed, and a summary of methodological recommendations is given. A number of new analytical tools are described which can greatly facilitate poverty comparisons, recognising the uncertainties involved.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1136469214
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description
Poverty comparisons - such as whether poverty has increased, or where it is greatest, are typically clouded in conceptual and methodological uncertainties. How should individual well-being be assessed in deciding who is poor? Is a household survey a reliable guide? Where should the poverty line be drawn, and does the choice matter? This monograph surveys the issues that need to be considered in answering these questions, providing an accessible introduction to the most recent literature. The strengths and weaknesses of past methods are discussed, and a summary of methodological recommendations is given. A number of new analytical tools are described which can greatly facilitate poverty comparisons, recognising the uncertainties involved.
The Great Escape
Author: Angus Deaton
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691259259
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
A Nobel Prize–winning economist tells the remarkable story of how the world has grown healthier, wealthier, but also more unequal over the past two and half centuries The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Nobel Prize–winning economist Angus Deaton—one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty—tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations, and addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind. Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on the one hand, and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts—including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions—that will allow the developing world to bring about its own Great Escape. Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691259259
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
A Nobel Prize–winning economist tells the remarkable story of how the world has grown healthier, wealthier, but also more unequal over the past two and half centuries The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Nobel Prize–winning economist Angus Deaton—one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty—tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations, and addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind. Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on the one hand, and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts—including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions—that will allow the developing world to bring about its own Great Escape. Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations.