Poverty and Inequality

The research program has two main objectives: (1) to improve current data as well as methods and tools for poverty and inequality analysis. This includes producing new household-level data (notably through the group’s Living Standards Measurement Study), monitoring poverty and inequality using household-level data, developing more reliable “poverty maps”, and rolling out computational tools such as ADePT and PovCalNet; (2) to use the improved data and existing data sources to better understand the economic and social processes determining the extent of poverty and inequality and to assess the effectiveness of specific policies in reducing poverty.

Research Highlights 2008

Research Manager: Peter Lanjouw 

IN FOCUS - Financial Crisis and Poverty

How many more infants are likely to die in Africa as a result of the global financal crisis? August 2009 - The authors estimate the additional number of infant deaths in sub-Saharan Africa likely due to the crisis and discuss possible mitigation strategies. Working Paper 5023  Social Safety Nets: Lessons from Rich and Poor Countries April 2009 - As the global recession threatens to hamstring the pace of poverty reduction everywhere, many countries - both rich and poor - hope to cushion the blow through a fiscal stimulus. Featured Article

Weakly Relative Poverty June 2009 - Implied poverty measures for 116 developing countries suggest there is more relative poverty than past estimates have suggested. In 2005, one half of the population of the developing world lived in relative poverty, half of whom were absolutely poor. Working Paper 4844

New poverty estimates for the developing world August 2009 - New estimates of poverty in the developing world are presented in "The developing world is poorer than we thought but no less successful in the fight against poverty." New data show that 1.4 billion people lived on less than US$1.25 a day in 2005, but progress against poverty remains strong. Working Paper 4816 | For calculations see http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet

Why Don't We See Poverty Convergence? Summer 2009 - Does growth or the impact of growth on poverty depend on the initial poverty rate in a way that nullifies the advantage of backwardness? Research Digest (non-technical)

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