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1 – 10 of over 137000The analysis of poverty is fundamentally focused on examining the well-being condition of the poor. We usually neglect the information provided by the rich. Nevertheless, perhaps…
Abstract
Purpose
The analysis of poverty is fundamentally focused on examining the well-being condition of the poor. We usually neglect the information provided by the rich. Nevertheless, perhaps the non-considered information indicating the determinants of non-poverty is also useful for fighting against poverty. The purpose of this paper is to analyze poverty under a new angle i.e. focusing on the information provided by the non-poor instead of the poor. For that a richness index is calculated in order to estimate econometric models regressing both indices i.e. poverty and richness indices on same selected characteristics. Thus, the comparison of the determinants of poverty and non-poverty for Tunisian case have allowed the classification of the selected explanatory variables with significant effect into four categories: the variables having significant effect on both sides (permanent effect), the variables having significant effect on the poor but not on the non-poor (transitory effect), the variables having significant effect on the non-poor but not on the poor (insurance effect) and the variables without any effect on both cases (neutral effect). This procedure is thus important given that it provides additional information and new way to enhance the targeting efficiency of the poor and fighting against poverty.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Tunisian data, an original procedure is proposed for calculating a richness index, defined based on the common formula of calculating the poverty index. Next econometric models are estimated regressing both the indices i.e. poverty and richness index on same selected characteristics.
Findings
The comparison of the determinants of poverty and non-poverty have allowed the classification of the selected explanatory variables with significant effect into four categories: the variables having significant effect on both sides (permanent effect), the variables having significant effect on the poor but not on the non-poor (transitory effect), the variables having significant effect on the non-poor but not on the poor (insurance effect) and the variables without any effect on both cases (neutral effect).
Originality/value
The analysis and the classification of the determinants of poverty according to the determinants of non-poverty is never made before in the litterature. This procedure is important given that it provides additional information and a new way to enhance the efficiency of targeting the poor and fighting against poverty.
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Whilst accepting the economic necessity for adding extenders to zinc rich paints, there are several problems which need careful consideration.
This paper sets out to provide an overview of the current state of library services to the poor, and to suggest how it can be improved.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sets out to provide an overview of the current state of library services to the poor, and to suggest how it can be improved.
Design/methodology/approach
Uses examples to illustrate the gulf between how public libraries often address services to poor patrons, and the obstacles faced and services required for poor patrons to use the library.
Findings
While many libraries think they are adequately serving their poorer constituents, often this is not the case. While one removes barriers to the traditional services one provides, determining the services they want or need is often neglected.
Originality/value
Uses examples of how libraries can better serve poor patrons, and offers sound advice on establishing reasonable limits in developing such services.
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Van Q. Tran, Sabina Alkire and Stephan Klasen
There has been a rapid expansion in the literature on the measurement of multidimensional poverty in recent years. This paper focuses on the longitudinal aspects of…
Abstract
There has been a rapid expansion in the literature on the measurement of multidimensional poverty in recent years. This paper focuses on the longitudinal aspects of multidimensional poverty and its link to dynamic income poverty measurement. Using panel household survey data in Vietnam from 2007, 2008, and 2010, the paper analyses the prevalence and dynamics of both multidimensional and monetary poverty from the same dataset. The results show that the monetary poor (or non-poor) are not always multidimensionally poor (or non-poor) – indeed the overlap between the two measures is much less than 50 percent. Additionally, monetary poverty shows faster progress as well as a higher level of fluctuation than multidimensional poverty. We suggest that rapid economic growth as experienced by Vietnam has had a larger and more immediate impact on monetary than on multidimensional poverty.
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After Jomtien1 under the goal of providing “education for all” a great number of countries made a strong commitment to extend the benefits of education to the poorest sectors…
Abstract
After Jomtien1 under the goal of providing “education for all” a great number of countries made a strong commitment to extend the benefits of education to the poorest sectors of their population. Efforts have been made in the following years to fulfill this promise. But the issues associated with understanding and addressing disadvantaged populations are multiple and complex. Moreover the strategies followed by a number of countries have been framed under structural assumptions inherently limiting and undermining the intentions of the policies that gave them origin. Seeking to understand the challenges and complexities of change in these contexts, I analyze Mexico's assumptions framing educational policy toward the rural and indigenous poor.2 I argue that a number of initiatives may fail to fully address the needs of these populations due to the assumptions underlying these policies which end up resting agency to the poor, their children, and to their teachers and schools. After describing the theoretical framework used in this chapter and providing a brief description of Mexico's political economy, I examine Mexico's past and current government policies toward the poor and look at the spaces that have opened up for innovation due to growing relationships with the global economy and the global community and to relationships between Mexico's central and local governments. I suggest that compulsory early childhood education is one obvious avenue (complementing policies such as Federalizacion and teacher education) to correct centuries of injustice and neglect. I discuss the implications of this analysis within the context of the current decentralization movement and the growing discontent among the rural poor.
Kei Otsuki and Bram van Helvoirt
We aim to explore to what extent and how pro-poor PPP projects engage with local communities and what the possibilities are for the communities to become genuine partners with…
Abstract
We aim to explore to what extent and how pro-poor PPP projects engage with local communities and what the possibilities are for the communities to become genuine partners with governments, businesses and civil society organizations (CSOs). We look into three different PPP projects funded by the Dutch international cooperation that emphasize the pro-poor aspects in Africa and find patterns of how local communities are positioned in each project. The analysis of the three projects indicates that the existing pro-poor PPP projects deal with local communities as either mere beneficiaries, business partners with substantial brokering by CSOs, or those who potentially lead the projects. The difference stems from how a PPP project allows local communities to participate and balance the relationship between the project’s profit maximization and benefit-sharing for the poor. Our findings can be used to evaluate pro-poor PPP projects by reference to its local development relevance. They also show possibilities for local communities to identify their positions vis-à-vis large-scale investment projects and reflect on what pro-poor projects actually mean. The importance of PPP projects to become pro-poor and enhance its local development relevance has been widely discussed; however, the actual positionality of the poor within PPP projects remains unclear. In this chapter, we specifically look into the question of where local communities are in pro-poor PPP projects in order to suggest a new research and policy agenda.
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Edward McKenzie Abbey and Sharmin Attaran
Most of the people in the world are poor, so if we knew the economics of being poor we would know much of the economics that really matters.T.W. Schultz, Nobel Prize Lecture 1980
Hai-Anh Dang, Toan L.D. Huynh and Manh-Hung Nguyen
The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought havoc on economies around the world. The purpose of this study is to learn about the distributional impacts of the pandemic.
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought havoc on economies around the world. The purpose of this study is to learn about the distributional impacts of the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors contribute new theoretical and empirical evidence on the distributional impacts of the pandemic on different income groups in a multicountry setting. The authors analyze rich individual-level survey data covering 6,082 respondents from China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. The results are robust to various econometric models, including ordinary least squares (OLS), Tobit and ordered probit models with country-fixed effects.
Findings
The authors find that while the outbreak has no impact on household income losses, it results in a 63% reduction in the expected own labor income for the second-poorest income quintile. The pandemic impacts are most noticeable for savings, with all the four poorer income quintiles suffering reduced savings ranging between 5 and 7% compared to the richest income quintile. The poor are also less likely to change their behaviors regarding immediate prevention measures against COVID-19 and healthy activities. The authors also found countries to exhibit heterogeneous impacts.
Social implications
Designing tailor-made social protection and health policies to support the poorer income groups in richer and poorer countries can generate multiple positive impacts that help minimize the negative and inequality-enhancing pandemic consequences. These findings are relevant not only for COVID-19 but also for future pandemics.
Originality/value
The authors theoretically and empirically investigate the impacts of the pandemic on poorer income groups, while previous studies mostly offer empirical analyses and focus on other sociodemographic factors. The authors offer a new multicountry analysis of several prevention measures against COVID-19 and specific health activities.
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Carin Neitzel and Judith A. Chafel
Purpose – The study reported here analyzed the meanings that 8-year-old children of different demographic backgrounds constructed about poverty.Methodology/approach – Six children…
Abstract
Purpose – The study reported here analyzed the meanings that 8-year-old children of different demographic backgrounds constructed about poverty.
Methodology/approach – Six children with different demographic profiles were selected from a larger study for closer examination of their conceptions of poverty (Chafel & Neitzel, 2004, 2005). Content analysis was used to arrive at an in-depth interpretation of the children's ideas expressed in response to a story about poverty and interview questions.
Findings – The children communicated perspectives about poverty that appear to reflect their demographic profiles. Yet, they also shared a common ideology about the poor different from the dominant societal view.
Research implications – By selecting typical children, recognizing the interrelatedness of sources of influence, and considering the data holistically, it was possible to achieve an in-depth understanding of the children's conceptions.
Originality/value of paper – With insight into the more humane conceptions that children have about the poor, adults can take steps to nurture these ideas so that as they grow older children continue to oppose discrimination and challenge the status quo.
Vetta Sanders Thompson, Anjanette Wells and Jacquelyn Coats
This chapter provides an overview of the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in health, including disease, health behaviors, and access to health. The literature on the social…
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in health, including disease, health behaviors, and access to health. The literature on the social determinants of health is reviewed. The chapter then provides a review of the health status of the homeless, poor, and near-poor. The incidence and mortality rates for leading diseases and health behaviors are reviewed, in addition to issues of environmental exposures, access to care, and health literacy. SES is one of the strongest predictors of health status (Kahng, 2010; Kawachi & Kennedy, 1997; Link & Phelan, 1996). SES is important to health regardless of a person's social status and in general, the more advantaged individuals are, the better their health, and the more disadvantaged individuals are, the greater their chances of increased morbidity and mortality (Adler et al., 1994; Adler & Coriell, 1997, Kidder, Wolitski, Campsmith, & Nakamura, 2007; Zlotnick and Zerger, 2009).
The chapter provides an overview of strategies and policies to address the health needs of the poor and vulnerable in our society, including workplace wellness strategies and school-based health clinics. The authors suggest ways to extend these innovative practices. This chapter emphasizes an approach to addressing the health of the poor and near-poor that acknowledges the significant role that access to social and economic resources plays in the acquisition and maintenance of health. Recommendations for health interventions are focused on strengthening the utilization of community institutions to deliver needed services.