Measurements and determinants of multifaceted poverty in South Africa

Poverty, despite being a multifaceted concept, is commonly measured in either absolute or relative monetary terms. However, it can also be measured subjectively, as people form perceptions on their relative income, welfare and life satisfaction. This is the first study that uses the National Income Dynamics Study data to analyse poverty across various objective and subjective methods. The paper finds that while respondents' poverty status varies across methods, blacks remain the racial group most likely to be defined as poor by at least one method. The multivariate analysis reveals that the impact of some explanatory variables, such as experience of negative events, frequency of crime victimisation, health status and importance of religious activities, is mixed across methods.     

Poverty and unemployment in India: An analysis of recent evidence

This paper examines the association between poverty and unemployment using the data collected by the Indian National Sample Survey from October 1972 to September 1973. Data is analyzed for two states of India: Gujarat and Maharshtra. Contrary to the widely accepted view, supported even in the ILO reports, that the poor are too poor to remain unemployed, this paper highlights a clear association between unemployment and poverty (as measured by the per capita expenditure of households). Poverty is, however, more widespread than unemployment.     

Trade openness and household welfare within a country: A microeconomic analysis of Vietnamese households

The positive effects of trade liberalisation on several dimensions of poverty have initiated studies of the trade–poverty relationship. Trade liberalisation accompanies institutional reforms that help to reduce institutional barriers against the poor. This study examines the impacts of trade openness and institutional reforms on rural household welfare at the provincial level through the analysis of the determinants of welfare of rural households in Vietnam. The study employs a model of micro-determinants of growth and tests it on the data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSSs) of 2006 and 2010. What makes the study different from some other studies of the same vein is that it attempts to directly capture the institutional effect on welfare. The study finds that, in the provinces with high institutional reforms and trade openness, the welfare of rural households improved. Institutional reforms in Vietnam appeared to be sluggish in the late 2000s. In particular, both access to land and lower informal charges were the important determinants of welfare improvement over time. These findings suggest that Vietnam should maintain its development by accelerating the process of institutional reforms, thereby helping poor households to improve standards of living.     

The counting approach to multidimensional poverty. The case of four African countries

This paper investigates the levels and evolution of poverty in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe using the decomposability properties of poverty measures based on a counting approach. We compare poverty measures such as the Alkire and Foster index with alternative poverty indices that are sensitive to inequality. Poverty is estimated using Demographic and Health Surveys for different years for Malawi (2004, 2010 and 2015), for Mozambique (2003 and 2011), Tanzania (2004, 2010 and 2015) and for Zimbabwe (2005, 2010 and 2015). Our findings show that one obtains insightful information when looking at the breadth and inequality components of multidimensional poverty.     

Financial inclusion as a pathway to welfare enhancement and income equality: Micro-level evidence from Nigeria

While the importance of financial inclusion as a means of poverty and income inequality reduction has long been recognised, the paths to welfare enhancement and income equality through financial inclusion remain partially acknowledged. Using micro-level data on 1 750 rural Nigerian households, this study examines the finance-welfare nexus by constructing a multi-variable financial inclusion index. The results first show that financial inclusion exerts a strong positive influence on household welfare. However, the decomposition analysis shows that middle- and high-income households gain more from financial inclusion in comparison to the targeted low-income households. Second, informal livelihood strategies, such as environmental resource extraction, crops, and livestock production, revealed reduced welfare disparities across income distributions. Therefore, for financial inclusion to alleviate welfare inequality and ensure income convergence, rural financial markets must be redesigned to allow wider access to credit, specifically for low-income and vulnerable households.     

How do poverty alleviation coordinators help the impoverished in rural China? -- Evidence from the Chinese poor population tracking dataset

The loss of targeting efficiency due to information asymmetry is a longstanding problem in aid programs. China's Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) program addresses this problem by assigning local government officials to individual impoverished households. These officials, referred to as poverty alleviation coordinators (PACs), are required to pay frequent home visits to the assigned households and to deploy policy resources for poverty reduction. The program is costly in terms of human resources because the officials also have regular duties in a variety of departments. We investigate the effects of the PAC system on poverty alleviation and explore the mechanisms of the effects. Based on the Chinese Poor Population Tracking Dataset and econometric analysis, we find that the households with a larger income increase are those whose PACs work in a department that has the type of resources needed by the household. This indicates that a good match between the resource and the need could enhance the effect of the TPA program. In addition, PACs at a higher position in the governance structure show a larger income increase in their assigned households, which is expected, because a higher position could have more resources to deploy. These findings shed light on role of institutional arrangements in alleviating information asymmetry in poverty reduction programs.     

Household spending patterns and flow of ecotourism income into communities around Liwonde National Park,Malawi

Rural Malawi is largely characterised by high levels of poverty, unemployment and high population densities. It is also seen as the ‘warm heart of Africa’, which, together with its abundant natural resources, makes it an excellent destination for international ecotourists. This paper looks at the impact of ecotourism employment on poverty reduction and the flow of ecotourism income into the villages adjacent to Liwonde National Park. Extensive questionnaire surveys were conducted with staff employed in ecotourism as well as with rural households in the villages adjacent to the Park. Comparisons of household income and social welfare highlight the important role of ecotourism employment in lifting people in these rural villages above the poverty line. Household spending patterns illustrate the flow of income from ecotourism into the local economy and the important impact of this on local socio-economic development. Suggestions for increasing local multiplier effects of ecotourism are put forward.     

The price of poverty: The association between childhood poverty and adult income and education in Sweden, 1947–2015

Childhood poverty increases the likelihood of being poor as an adult. We know relatively little about this persistence of poverty in the past and whether it changed as modern welfare societies developed. This study both analyses determinants of childhood poverty and assesses the association between childhood poverty and economic outcomes in adulthood for men and women who grew up in southern Sweden, and who were followed to adulthood regardless of where in Sweden they resided. Poverty is measured in relative terms. Being raised by a single mother, foreign origin, and being raised in a context where the household head was not employed were important risk factors for childhood poverty. Growing up in relative poverty was in turn associated with low income and education in adulthood. Both the persistence and intensity of childhood poverty mattered, and so did the age during which poverty was experienced. Patterns were similar for men and women, and there was no consistent change over time as the Swedish welfare state expanded.     

Estimating a poverty line: An application to free basic municipal services in South Africa

One of the key interventions aimed at improving the welfare of South African households has been local government's provision of a package of free basic municipal services to poor households. It is, however, not completely clear how different municipalities identify households that are eligible for these services. Evidence suggests that many municipalities currently provide services to all households with a monthly income of less than R1500 a month. This ‘free basic services poverty line’ is, however, low in comparison with a number of unofficial poverty lines used by policymakers and researchers in South Africa. This paper considers the impact of increasing the value of the free basic services line, in terms of the additional share and number of households eligible for support and the additional financial cost. We find that urban municipalities would face the steepest increases in their free basic services budgets with any potential increase in the free basic services poverty line.     

后脱贫时代云南省怒江州防返贫长效机制构建研究

贫困治理是中国特色社会主义伟大实践的重要组成部分，是中国特色社会主义制度优势的集中体现，然而脱贫之后的脱贫户再次返贫问题成为“十四五”时期重要关注点。通过深入探析云南怒江州潜在的返贫主、客观原因，即从脱贫户内生动力、防返贫监测系统、政策制度、特色产业4个方面进行阐述，并提出相应的对策建议，对拓展巩固云南怒江州脱贫攻坚成果、实现乡村振兴具有重要意义。     

Calculating a Water Poverty Index

This paper provides discussion of ways in which an interdisciplinary approach can be taken to produce an integrated assessment of water stress and scarcity, linking physical estimates of water availability with socioeconomic variables that reflect poverty, i.e., a Water Poverty Index. It is known that poor households often suffer from poor water provision, and this results in a significant loss of time and effort, especially for women. By linking the physical and social sciences to address this issue, a more equitable solution for water allocation may be found. For the purpose of initiating discussion, a summary of different approaches to establishing a Water Poverty Index is discussed.     

Poverty in Edwardian Britain

This article introduces a newly discovered household budget data set for 1904. We use these data to estimate urban poverty among working families in the British Isles. Applying Bowley's poverty line, we estimate that at least 23 per cent of people in urban working households and 18 per cent of working households had income insufficient to meet minimum needs. This is well above Rowntree's estimate of primary poverty for York in 1899 and high in the range that Bowley found in northern towns in 1912–13. The skill gradient of poverty is steep; for instance, among labourers' households, the poverty rates are close to 50 per cent. Measures of the depth of poverty are relatively low in the data, suggesting that most poor male-headed working households were close to meeting Bowley's new standard.     

Poverty Alleviation in the People's Republic of China: The Implications for Sino–African Cooperation in Poverty Reduction

Abstract: In the last thirty years, remarkable achievements have been made in China's poverty reduction course. The dramatic fall in China's poor can be attributed mainly to a high rate of economic growth, government poverty reduction policies and targeted programmes and pro‐poor macroeconomic and industrial policies. This paper focuses on China's poverty reduction policies and programmes and their impact on the poor regions and poor households. Lessons are drawn for poverty reduction and economic development in African countries. The paper also explores the potential for collaboration in poverty reduction between China and African countries and recommendations are made for the governments and donor agencies.     

Revisiting growth and poverty reduction in Indonesia: what do subnational data show?

Indonesia has an impressive record of economic growth and poverty reduction over the past two decades. The growth-poverty nexus appears strong at the aggregate level. However, newly constructed panel data on the country's 285 districts reveal huge differences in poverty change, subnational economic growth and local attributes across the country. The results of econometric analysis show that growth is not the only factor to affect the rate of poverty change; other factors also directly influence the welfare of the poor, as well as having an indirect effect through their impact on growth itself. Among the critical ones are infrastructure, human capital, agricultural price incentives and access to technology. While fostering economic growth is crucial, a more complete poverty reduction strategy should take these relevant factors into account. In the context of ecentralisation, subnational analysis can be an instructive approach to examining local governance in relation to growth and poverty reduction.     

Poor relief policy in antebellum New York state: The rise and decline of the poorhouse

In the past 15 years, numerous policies and programs to improve the economic welfare of our poorest citizens have been implemented. Partly as a result of this antipoverty effort, a rapid increase in the number of welfare beneficiaries and the value of available welfare benefits occurred. Although this growth in welfare led to a reduction in income poverty, a “welfare crisis” emerged. The dimensions of the crisis were perceived differently by politicians, taxpayers, and welfare recipients, but all became convinced that the existing welfare system needed reform (S. Danzinger and R. Plotnik (1978), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Institute for Research on Poverty, Discussion Paper No. 517-78).That our poor laws are manifestly defective in principle, and mischievous in practice, and that under the imposing and charitable aspect of affording relief exclusively to the poor and infirm, they frequently invite the able-bodied to partake of the same bounty, are propositions very generally admitted (J. V. Yates, (1824), The Almshouse Experience: Collected Reports. New York: Arno Press).     

Firm agglomeration and local poverty reduction: evidence from an economy in transition

We examine the linkages between firm agglomeration and the welfare of households in Vietnam. We measured firm agglomeration by per capita firm output at the district level and household welfare by per capita income, expenditure, and poverty. We find that firm agglomeration helps households move from the informal sector to the formal sector. As a result, there is a positive effect of firm agglomeration on per capita income, per capita expenditure, and poverty reduction, albeit of a small and time‐decreasing magnitude. The effect of firm agglomeration on per capita expenditure tends to be higher for households with men, younger, and more educated heads than households with women, older, and less educated heads. Households in rural areas and those that do not have crop land are more likely to benefit from firm agglomeration than those living in urban areas and having crop land.     

精准扶贫框架下的城市贫困治理

贫困问题是全球面临的重大难题,亦是古今中外治国理政的大事。我国为响应全球治理贫困的需求,同时为化解国内严峻的贫困形势,2013年在农村地区开始实行"精准扶贫"战略,实践取得了巨大成功。反观城市贫困人口的数量却一直居高不下,不仅缺乏精准化救助理念与形式,而且在治理主体与体系方面也缺少精准性,为实现城市与乡村的协调发展,也为实现共同富裕的目标,在分析精准扶贫对城市反贫困的契合基础上,欲运用精准扶贫作为指导,从救助理念、形式、主体、体系这四个方面进行精准化设计,实现精准性城市贫困治理。     

Hurricane Katrina as an Experiment in Housing Mobility and Neighborhood Effects: Were the Relocated Poor Black Evacuees Better-Off?

Hurricane Katrina induced hundreds of thousands of New Orleans citizens to evacuate and relocate to different neighborhoods. Some of these evacuees moved to neighborhoods with poverty rates lower than the one they left in New Orleans. With survey data on a small sample of black Katrina evacuees who registered for absentee voter ballots, this paper explores whether or not there were improvements in the welfare of black evacuees—neighborhood effects—as a result of moving to neighborhoods with a lower poverty rate. With data from a small sample of relocated Katrina evacuees, we provide matching estimates of the short-run treatment effect of different types of changes in neighborhood poverty on five different measures of individual welfare. Treatment parameter estimates reveal—conditional upon the change in origin to destination neighborhood poverty rate—positive neighborhood effects mostly for black evacuees who did not move from high poverty to low poverty neighborhoods, but could have. Our results suggest that at least in the short-run, antipoverty policies based on housing mobility and changing the poverty characteristics of neighborhoods are not necessarily effective in improving the welfare of poor black households.     

Re-estimating gender differences in income in South Africa: The implications of equivalence scales

Most studies of poverty and inequality in South Africa measure individual welfare by deflating total household resources, such as income, by household size. This per-capita method makes no adjustments for the different consumption needs of children or for household economies of scale. However, in addition to being more likely to live in households where average per-capita household income is lower compared with men, we show that women in South Africa also live in significantly larger households which include more children. These gendered differences in household composition are driven to a large degree by low rates of co-residency between men and women. We therefore investigate how adjusting household resources for the presence of children and economies of scale affects measures of the gender gap in income.     

The determinants of poverty dynamics in Indonesia: evidence from panel data

We use the ‘spell’ approach to identifying poverty and apply an ordered logit model to examine the determinants of poverty dynamics in Indonesia, categorising households as poor, transient poor (–), transient poor (+) or non-poor. Observing the National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) balanced-panel data sets of 2005 and 2007, we found that 28% of poor households are classified as chronically poor (that is, remaining poor in two periods) while 7% of non-poor households are vulnerable to being transient poor (–). Our estimations confirmed that the determinants of poverty dynamics in Indonesia are educational attainment, the number of household members, physical assets, employment status, health shocks, the microcredit program, access to electricity, and changes in employment sector, employment status and the number of household members. We also found that households in Java–Bali are more vulnerable to negative shocks than those outside Java–Bali.