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Rural Poverty Dynamics in Kenya: Structural Declines and Stochastic Escapes

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  • Radeny, Maren
  • van den Berg, Marrit
  • Schipper, Rob

Abstract

We use panel survey data and household event-histories to explore patterns of rural poverty dynamics in Kenya over the period 2000–2009. We find substantial mobility across poverty categories using economic transition matrices. Drawing on asset-based approaches, we distinguish stochastic from structural poverty transitions. Few households successfully escaped poverty through asset accumulation (up to 35% of the upwardly mobile), while a large proportion of households (up to 66%) declining into poverty experienced structural transitions. Using household event-histories, we find significant differences across structural poverty transition classes in livelihood strategies, household-level shocks, and other factors.

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  • Radeny, Maren & van den Berg, Marrit & Schipper, Rob, 2012. "Rural Poverty Dynamics in Kenya: Structural Declines and Stochastic Escapes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1577-1593.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:8:p:1577-1593
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.04.027
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    2. Brück, Tilman & Esenaliev, Damir & Kroeger, Antje & Kudebayeva, Alma & Mirkasimov, Bakhrom & Steiner, Susan, 2014. "Household survey data for research on well-being and behavior in Central Asia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 819-835.
    3. Shimeles, Abebe, 2014. "Growth and Poverty in Africa: Shifting Fortunes and New Perspectives," IZA Discussion Papers 8751, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Harun M. Kiruki & Emma H. Zanden & Patrick Kariuki & Peter H. Verburg, 2020. "The contribution of charcoal production to rural livelihoods in a semi-arid area in Kenya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6931-6960, October.
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    6. Andy McKay & Saurabh Singhal & Finn Tarp, 2018. "Welfare dynamics in rural Vietnam: Learning from regular, high-quality panel data," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-169, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Fred Mawunyo Dzanku, 2020. "Poverty Reduction And Economic Livelihood Mobility In Rural Sub‐Saharan Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 636-683, July.
    8. Simone Schotte, 2019. "Structural poverty dynamics in urban South Africa: A mixed-methods investigation," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-100, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Torkelsson, Asa, 2014. "Using evidence and operational responses to accelerate gender equality in Kenya," WIDER Working Paper Series 024, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Jacob Katuva & Rob Hope & Tim Foster & Johanna Koehler & Patrick Thomson, 2020. "Modelling Welfare Transitions to Prioritise Sustainable Development Interventions in Coastal Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-22, August.
    11. Andy McKay & Saurabh Singhal & Finn Tarp, 2018. "Welfare dynamics in rural Vietnam: Learning from regular, high-quality panel data," WIDER Working Paper Series 169, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Åsa Torkelsson, 2014. "Using Evidence and Operational Responses to Accelerate Gender Equality in Kenya," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-024, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Julia Shu-Huah Wang & Bilal Malaeb & Fred M. Ssewamala & Torsten B. Neilands & Jeannie Brooks-Gunn, 2021. "A Multifaceted Intervention with Savings Incentives to Reduce Multidimensional Child Poverty: Evidence from the Bridges Study (2012–2018) in Rural Uganda," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 947-990, December.
    14. Li, Dongmei & Yang, Yuanyuan & Du, Guoming & Huang, Shanlin, 2021. "Understanding the contradiction between rural poverty and rich cultivated land resources: A case study of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

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