Showing papers on "Poverty published in 2013"

Policy: Sustainable development goals for people and planet.

Abstract: Planetary stability must be integrated with United Nations targets to fight poverty and secure human well-being, argue David Griggs and colleagues.

Human Development Report 2013. The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World

Abstract: The 2013 Human Development Report – "The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World" – examines the profound shift in global dynamics driven by the fast-rising new powers of the developing world and its long-term implications for human developmentChina has already overtaken Japan as the world's second biggest economy while lifting hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty India is reshaping its future with new entrepreneurial creativity and social policy innovation Brazil is lifting its living standards through expanding international relationships and antipoverty programs that are emulated worldwideBut the "Rise of the South" analyzed in the Report is a much larger phenomenon: Turkey, Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia and many other developing nations are also becoming leading actors on the world stage

Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much

Abstract: Why can we never seem to keep on top of our workload, social diary or chores? Why does poverty persist around the world? Why do successful people do things at the last minute in a sudden rush of energy? Here, economist Sendhil Mullainathan and psychologist Eldar Shafir reveal that the hidden side of all these problems is that they're all about scarcity. We've all struggled with packing a suitcase with too many items and not enough time to do it. In Scarcity, two intellectual adventurers show us that this simple idea explains the most fundamental problems in all walks of life. Using the new science of scarcity, they explain why obesity is rampant; why people find it difficult to sleep when most sleep deprived; and why the lonely find it so hard to make friends. Scarcity will change the way you think about both the little everyday tasks and the big issues of global urgency. Sendhil Mullainathan is a Professor of Economics at Harvard, and a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant". He conducts research on development economics, behavioral economics, and corporate finance. He is Executive Director of Ideas 42, Institute of Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University. Eldar Shafir is William Stewart Tod Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Most of his work focuses on descriptive analyses of inference, judgment, and decision making, and on issues related to behavioral economics. 'Stars in their respective disciplines, and the combination is greater than the sum of its parts. Their project has a unique feel to it: it is the finest combination of heart and head that I have seen in our field', Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and Slow 'Scarcity is a captivating book, overflowing with new ideas, fantastic stories, and simple suggestions that just might change the way you live' Steven D. Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics 'Here is a winning recipe. Take a behavioral economist and a cognitive psychologist, each a prominent leader in his field, and let their creative minds commingle. What you get is a highly original and easily readable book that is full of intriguing insights. What does a single mom trying to make partner at a major law firm have in common with a peasant who spends half her income on interest payments? The answer is scarcity. Read this book to learn the surprising ways in which scarcity affects us all', Richard Thaler, co-author of Nudge.

Economic freedom of the world

Abstract: This report uses 42 distinct variables to create an index ranking of countries around the world based on policies that encourage economic freedom, and places Australia at number 10. Executive summary The index published in Economic Freedom of the World measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of privately owned property. Forty-two variables are used to construct a summary index and to measure the degree of economic freedom in five broad areas: 1 Size of Government; 2 Legal System and Property Rights; 3 Sound Money; 4 Freedom to Trade Internationally; 5 Regulation. Since our first publication in 1996, numerous studies have used the data published in Economic Freedom of the World to examine the impact of economic freedom on investment, economic growth, income levels, and poverty rates. Virtually without exception, these studies have found that countries with institutions and policies more consistent with economic freedom have higher investment rates, more rapid economic growth, higher income levels, and a more rapid reduction in poverty rates. The EFW index now covers 152 countries and territories. Data are available for approximately 100 nations and territories back to 1980, and many back to 1970.3 This data set makes it possible for scholars to analyze the impact of both cross-country differences in economic freedom and changes in that freedom across a threedecade time frame.

Measuring Acute Poverty in the Developing World: Robustness and Scope of the Multidimensional Poverty Index

Abstract: This paper presents the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), a measure of acute poverty, understood as a person’s inability to meet simultaneously minimum international standards in indicators related to the Millennium Development Goals and to core functionings It constitutes the first implementation of the direct method to measure poverty for over 100 developing countries After presenting the MPI, we analyse its scope and robustness, with a focus on the data challenges and methodological issues involved in constructing and estimating it A range of robustness tests indicate that the MPI offers a reliable framework that can complement global income poverty estimates

Adoption of multiple sustainable agricultural practices in rural Ethiopia

Abstract: The adoption and diffusion of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) has become an important issue in the development-policy agenda for sub-Saharan Africa, especially as a way to tackle land degradation, low agricultural productivity and poverty. However, the adoption rates of SAPs remain below expected levels. This study analyses the factors that facilitate or impede the probability and level of adoption of interrelated SAPs, using recent data from multiple plot-level observations in rural Ethiopia. Multivariate and ordered probit models are applied to the modelling of adoption decisions by farm households facing multiple SAPs, which can be adopted in various combinations. The results show that there is a significant correlation between SAPs, suggesting that adoptions of SAPs are interrelated. The analysis further shows that both the probability and the extent of adoption of SAPs are influenced by many factors: a household’s trust in government support, credit constraints, spouse education, rainfall and plot-level disturbances, household wealth, social capital and networks, labour availability, plot and market access. These results imply that policy-makers and development practitioners should seek to strengthen local institutions and service providers, maintain or increase household asset bases and establish and strengthen social protection schemes in order to improve the adoption of SAPs.

An urbanization bomb? Population growth and social disorder in cities

Abstract: For the first time in history, the majority of the world population now lives in cities. Global urbanization will continue at high speed; the world's urban population is projected to increase by more than 3 billion people between 2010 and 2050. Some of this increase will be the result of high urban fertility rates and reclassification of rural land into urban areas, but a significant portion of future urbanization will be caused by rural-to-urban migration. This migration is expected to be particularly prevalent in countries and regions most affected by the changing climate. While urban populations generally enjoy a higher quality of life, many cities in the developing world have large slums with populations that are largely excluded from access to resources, jobs, and public services. In the environmental security literature, great rural resource scarcity, causing rural to urban migration, is seen as an important source of violent conflict. This study investigates how population growth affects patterns of public unrest in urban centers within the context of crucial intervening factors like democracy, poverty, economic shocks. It utilizes a newly collected event dataset of urban social disturbance covering 55 major cities in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa since 1960. The empirical analysis provides little support for the notion that high and increasing urban population pressure leads to a higher risk or frequency of social disorder. Instead, we find that urban disorder is primarily associated with a lack of consistent political institutions, economic shocks, and ongoing civil conflict.

Report on the Post-2015 Development Agenda – “a new global partnership: eradicate poverty and transform economies through sustainable development

Abstract: I am delighted to be able to present the Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda to you today. I don’t mind admitting that my delight is tinged with a little relief: the past few months have been tough, and I was not always sure whether we would achieve a consensual result. I now believe and hope, however, that the Panel has produced a powerful document that can be a valuable tool in our quest for solutions to the major global challenges of the twenty-first century.

Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa: burden, causes and prospects.

Abstract: Malnutrition is estimated to contribute to more than one third of all child deaths, although it is rarely listed as the direct cause. Contributing to more than half of deaths in children worldwide; child malnutrition was associated with 54% of deaths in children in developing countries in 2001. Poverty remains the major contributor to this ill. The vicious cycle of poverty, disease and illness aggravates this situation. Grooming undernourished children causes children to start life at mentally sub optimal levels. This becomes a serious developmental threat. Lack of education especially amongst women disadvantages children, especially as far as healthy practices like breastfeeding and child healthy foods are concerned. Adverse climatic conditions have also played significant roles like droughts, poor soils and deforestation. Sociocultural barriers are major hindrances in some communities, with female children usually being the most affected. Corruption and lack of government interest and investment are key players that must be addressed to solve this problem. A multisectorial approach is vital in tackling this problem. Improvement in government policy, fight against corruption, adopting a horizontal approach in implementing programmes at community level must be recognized. Genetically modified foods to increase food production and to survive adverse climatic conditions could be gateways in solving these problems. Socio cultural peculiarities of each community are an essential base line consideration for the implementation of any nutrition health promotion programs.

Adverse Incorporation, Social Exclusion, and Chronic Poverty

Abstract: Poverty studies frequently fail to address the underlying processes that produce and reproduce poverty over time, preferring instead a descriptive focus on its correlates and characteristics. In this chapter, it is suggested that a much closer interrogation of the linkages between the state of chronic poverty and the processes of adverse incorporation and/or social exclusion that trap people in poverty is necessary. It is also proposed that these concepts can significantly advance current understandings of chronic poverty because they compel taking issues of causality seriously and relate these directly to social structures, relations, and processes. In particular, they force the examination of the multidimensional, political, and historical nature of persistent poverty.

The Corner and the Crew: The Influence of Geography and Social Networks on Gang Violence

Abstract: Nearly a century of empirical research examines how neighborhood properties influence a host of phenomena such as crime, poverty, health, civic engagement, immigration, and economic inequality. The...

Paediatric cancer in low-income and middle-income countries

Abstract: Summary Patterns of cancer incidence across the world have undergone substantial changes as a result of industrialisation and economic development. However, the economies of most countries remain at an early or intermediate stage of development—these stages are characterised by poverty, too few health-care providers, weak health systems, and poor access to education, modern technology, and health care because of scattered rural populations. Low-income and middle-income countries also have younger populations and therefore a larger proportion of children with cancer than high-income countries. Most of these children die from the disease. Chronic infections, which remain the most common causes of disease-related death in all except high-income countries, can also be major risk factors for childhood cancer in poorer regions. We discuss childhood cancer in relation to global development and propose strategies that could result in improved survival. Education of the public, more and better-trained health professionals, strengthened cancer services, locally relevant research, regional hospital networks, international collaboration, and health insurance are all essential components of an enhanced model of care.

Bangladesh: Innovation for Universal Health Coverage 1 The Bangladesh paradox: exceptional health achievement despite economic poverty

Abstract: Bangladesh, the eighth most populous country in the world with about 153 million people, has recently been applauded as an exceptional health performer. In the fi rst paper in this Series, we present evidence to show that Bangladesh has achieved substantial health advances, but the country’s success cannot be captured simplistically because health in Bangladesh has the paradox of steep and sustained reductions in birth rate and mortality alongside continued burdens of morbidity. Exceptional performance might be attributed to a pluralistic health system that has many stakeholders pursuing womencentred, gender-equity-oriented, highly focused health programmes in family planning, immunisation, oral rehydration therapy, maternal and child health, tuberculosis, vitamin A supplementation, and other activities, through the work of widely deployed community health workers reaching all households. Government and non-governmental organisations have pioneered many innovations that have been scaled up nationally. However, these remarkable achievements in equity and coverage are counterbalanced by the persistence of child and maternal malnutrition and the low use of maternityrelated services. The Bangladesh paradox shows the net outcome of successful direct health action in both positive and negative social determinants of health—ie, positives such as women’s empowerment, widespread education, and mitigation of the eff ect of natural disasters; and negatives such as low gross domestic product, pervasive poverty, and the persistence of income inequality. Bangladesh off ers lessons such as how gender equity can improve health outcomes, how health innovations can be scaled up, and how direct health interventions can partly overcome socioeconomic constraints.

Poverty and Insecurity: Life in Low-Pay, No-Pay Britain

Abstract: Introduction Precarious work, welfare and poverty Researching the low-pay, no-pay cycle The low-pay, no-pay cycle: the perspectives and practices of employers and 'welfare to work' agencies The low-pay, no-pay cycle: its pattern and people's commitment to work Searching for jobs: qualifications, support for the workless and the good and bad of informal social networks Poor work: insecurity and churning in deindustrialised labour markets 'The ties that bind': ill-health and caring and their impact on the low-pay, no-pay cycle Poverty and social insecurity Conclusions.

Poverty talk: how people experiencing poverty deny their poverty and why they blame ‘the poor’

Abstract: Drawing on life history interviews with sixty men and women in north-east England who were caught up in ‘the low-pay, no-pay cycle’, this article describes how people living in poverty talk about p...

The Economics of Poverty Traps and Persistent Poverty: Empirical and Policy Implications

Abstract: The moral and economic imperatives to intervene in poverty traps motivate the identification of poverty traps and their structural causes so as to inform the design of appropriate policy responses....

Children's Resources in Collective Households: Identification, Estimation, and an Application to Child Poverty in Malawi

Abstract: Children's resources matter, but they are hard to identify because consumption is typically mea- sured at the household level. Modern collective household models permit some identication of indi- vidual household member resources, but these models typically either ignore children, or treat them as attributes of adults. We propose a collective household model in which children are people with their own utility functions (possibly assigned to them by parents). Extending the frameworks of Browning, Chiappori and Lewbel (2007) and Lewbel and Pendakur (2008), we show identication of children's resource shares within households. We invoke semiparametric restrictions on individual preferences and use data on the household-level consumption of assignable private goods to achieve identication of each individual's resource share within the household. We show this without being able to observe consumption by individual household members of goods that are partly or wholly shared goods within the household. Further, we obtain identication using only Engel curves, and so do not require ob- served price variation in the data. We estimate our model using data from Malawi andnd that as the number of children in a household grows, women's resource shares fall and children's resource shares rise, and men's resource shares are basically unchanged. We alsond evidence of gender bias against girls, and observe that the resource shares of mothers and children are increasing in the education level of the mother. Finally we use our estimates to construct poverty indices at the person level andnd that per-capita poverty indices understate the incidence of child poverty in Malawi.