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The Economic Lives of the Poor

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Author Info
Abhijit V. Banerjee
Esther Duflo

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Abstract

The 1990 World Development Report from the World Bank defined the “extremely poor” people of the world as those who are currently living on no more than $1 per day per person. But how actually does one live on less than $1 per day? This essay is about the economic lives of the extremely poor: the choices they face, the constraints they grapple with, and the challenges they meet. A number of recent data sets and a body of new research allow us to start building an image of the way the extremely poor live their lives. Our discussion builds on household surveys conducted in 13 countries: Cote d’Ivoire, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, and Timor Leste (East Timor). These surveys provide detailed information on extremely poor households around the world, from Asia to Africa to Latin America, including information on what they consume, where they work, and how they save and borrow. We consider the extremely poor—those living in households where the consumption per capita is less than $1.08 per person per day—as well as the merely “poor”—defined as those who live under $2.16 a day—using 1993 purchasing power parity as benchmark. In keeping with convention, we call these the $1 and $2 dollar poverty lines, respectively.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Volume (Year): 21 (2007)
Issue (Month): 1 (Winter)
Pages: 141-168
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Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:21:y:2007:i:1:p:141-168

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  1. Anne Case & Angus Deaton, 2005. "Health and wealth among the poor: India and South Africa compared," Working Papers 169, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies.. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Morduch, Jonathan, 1995. "Income Smoothing and Consumption Smoothing," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 103-14, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. David Cutler & Angus Deaton & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "The Determinants of Mortality," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 97-120, Summer.
    Other versions:
    • David Cutler & Angus Deaton & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2005. "The Determinants of Mortality," Working Papers 164, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies.. [Downloadable!]
    • David Cutler & Angus Deaton & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2005. "The Determinants of Mortality," Working Papers 235, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing.. [Downloadable!]
    • David M. Cutler & Angus S. Deaton & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "The Determinants of Mortality," NBER Working Papers 11963, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Markus Goldstein & Christopher Udry, 2005. "The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana," Working Papers 929, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  5. Michael Kremer & Nazmul Chaudhury & F. Halsey Rogers & Karthik Muralidharan & Jeffrey Hammer, 2005. "Teacher Absence in India: A Snapshot," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 658-667, 04/05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Nava Ashraf & Dean Karlan & Wesley Yin, 2006. "Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence from a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 121(2), pages 635-672, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Fafchamps, Marcel & Lund, Susan, 2003. "Risk-sharing networks in rural Philippines," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 261-287, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Shaban, Radwan Ali, 1987. "Testing between Competing Models of Sharecropping," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(5), pages 893-920, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Abhijit Banerjee & Angus Deaton & Esther Duflo, 2004. "Wealth, Health, and Health Services in Rural Rajasthan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 326-330, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Subramanian, Shankar & Deaton, Angus, 1996. "The Demand for Food and Calories," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(1), pages 133-62, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Thomas, D. & Strauss, J., 1997. "Health and Wages: Evidence on Men and Women in Urban Brazil," Papers 97-05, RAND - Reprint Series.
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  12. Jacoby, Hanan G & Skoufias, Emmanuel, 1997. "Risk, Financial Markets, and Human Capital in a Developing Country," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 64(3), pages 311-35, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Aleem, Irfan, 1990. "Imperfect Information, Screening, and the Costs of Informal Lending: A Study of a Rural Credit Market in Pakistan," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 329-49, September.
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  15. Udry, Christopher, 1990. "Credit Markets in Northern Nigeria: Credit as Insurance in a Rural Economy," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 251-69, September.
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  1. Woodruff, Christopher & McKenzie, David & de Mel, Suresh, 2007. "Measuring microenterprise profits : don ' t ask how the sausage is made," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4229, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Galasso, Emanuela & Almeida, Rita, 2007. "Jump-starting self-employment ? Evidence among welfare participants in Argentina," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4270, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2007. "Aging and Death under a Dollar a Day," NBER Working Papers 13683, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Julián David Parada, 2008. "Tasa de depreciación endógena y crecimiento económico," DOCUMENTOS DE TRABAJO 004594, UNIVERSIDAD DEL ROSARIO - FACULTAD DE ECONOMÍA. [Downloadable!]
  5. T. Krishna Kumar & Sushanta Mallick & Jayarama Holla, 2007. "Estimating Consumption Deprivation in India using Survey Data: A State-Level Rural-Urban Analysis before and during Reform Period," Working Papers 7, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research. [Downloadable!]
  6. Kaivan Munshi, 2007. "From Farming to International Business: The Social Auspices of Entrepreneurship in a Growing Economy," NBER Working Papers 13065, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Robinson, Jonathan, 2008. "Limited Insurance Within the Household: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," MPRA Paper 8314, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  8. Raj Arunachalam & Trevon Logan, 2008. "Is There Dowry Inflation in South Asia?," NBER Working Papers 13905, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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