IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bwp/bwppap/20314.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Revisiting the Great Indian Poverty Debate: Measurement, Patterns, and Determinants

Author

Listed:
  • Himanshu
  • Kunal Sen

Abstract

In spite of rapid economic growth in the past three decades, poverty rates in India remain high, especially in certain regions and among the socially excluded groups. However, what has happened to poverty in India, especially after the onset of economic reforms in 1991, has been fiercely debated, both politically and statistically. In this paper, we revisit the Great Indian Poverty Debate, addressing both the measurement and causes of India’s persistent poverty. Our analysis of recent Indian poverty data suggests that there has been a higher rate of poverty decline in the second decade of economic reforms, in the 2000s, as compared to the first decade of reforms, in the 1990s. However, the rate of poverty decline in the post-reform period has not matched what was observed in the pre-reform period, in the 1980s. Further, there is evidence of sharply increasing inequality, both within the rural and urban sectors, as well as in a growing rural-urban divide. We suggest that the disappointingly low rate of decline in poverty in India in spite of high economic growth in the post-reform period may be attributed to declining growth in agricultural output, linked to low productivity growth in the sector, along with the increasing scarcity of arable land for cultivation.

Suggested Citation

  • Himanshu & Kunal Sen, 2014. "Revisiting the Great Indian Poverty Debate: Measurement, Patterns, and Determinants," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 20314, GDI, The University of Manchester.
  • Handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:20314
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/publications/workingpapers/bwpi/bwpi-wp-20314.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ira N. Gang & Kunal Sen & Myeong-Su Yun, 2017. "Is Caste Destiny? Occupational Diversification among Dalits in Rural India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 476-492, April.
    2. Gaurav Datt & Martin Ravallion, 2002. "Is India's Economic Growth Leaving the Poor Behind?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 89-108, Summer.
    3. (No last name available), Himanshu, 2013. "Poverty and Food Security in India," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 369, Asian Development Bank.
    4. Joshi, P.K. & Birthal, Pratap Singh & Minot, Nicholas, 2006. "Sources of agricultural growth in India: role of diversification towards high-value crops," MTID discussion papers 98, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Arvind Panagariya & Megha Mukim, 2014. "A Comprehensive Analysis of Poverty in India," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 31(1), pages 1-52, March.
    6. Ira N. Gang & Kunal Sen & Myeong‐Su Yun, 2008. "Poverty In Rural India: Caste And Tribe," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 54(1), pages 50-70, March.
    7. Ashok Kotwal & Bharat Ramaswami & Wilima Wadhwa, 2011. "Economic Liberalization and Indian Economic Growth: What's the Evidence?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1152-1199, December.
    8. Neff, Daniel & Sen, Kunal & Kling, Veronika, 2012. "The Puzzling Decline in Rural Women's Labor Force Participation in India: A Reexamination," GIGA Working Papers 196, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    9. Gaurav Datt & Martin Ravallion, 1998. "Why Have Some Indian States Done Better than Others at Reducing Rural Poverty?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 65(257), pages 17-38, February.
    10. Ravallion, Martin & Datt, Gaurav, 2002. "Why has economic growth been more pro-poor in some states of India than others?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 381-400, August.
    11. Angus Deaton & Valerie Kozel, 2005. "Data and Dogma: The Great Indian Poverty Debate," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 20(2), pages 177-199.
    12. Richard Palmer-Jones & Kunal Sen, 2003. "What has luck got to do with it? A regional analysis of poverty and agricultural growth in rural India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 1-31.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bhuyan, Biswabhusan & Sahoo, Bimal Kishore & Suar, Damodar, 2020. "Nutritional status, poverty, and relative deprivation among socio-economic and gender groups in India: Is the growth inclusive?," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    2. Sanjay K. Mohanty & Dipti Govil & Rajesh K. Chauhan & Rockli Kim & S.V. Subramanian, 2016. "Estimates of Poverty and Inequality in the Districts of India, 2011–2012," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 1(2), pages 142-202, July.
    3. Katsushi S. Imai & Bilal Malaeb, 2016. "Asia's Rural-urban Disparity in the Context of Growing Inequality," Discussion Paper Series DP2016-29, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    4. Azam, Mehtabul, 2017. "Are Urban-Rural Welfare Differences Growing in India?," IZA Discussion Papers 11174, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Imai, Katsushi S. & Gaiha, Raghav & Thapa, Ganesh, 2015. "Does non-farm sector employment reduce rural poverty and vulnerability? Evidence from Vietnam and India," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 47-61.
    6. Imai, S.K. & Malaeb, B., 2018. "IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 27 - Asia’s rural-urban disparity in the context of growing inequality," IFAD Research Series 280076, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    7. David Gordon & Shailen Nandy, 2016. "The Extent, Nature and Distribution of Child Poverty in India," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 10(1), pages 64-84, April.
    8. Rajesh K. Chauhan & Sanjay K. Mohanty & S V Subramanian & Jajati K Parida & Balakrushna Padhi, 2016. "Regional Estimates of Poverty and Inequality in India, 1993–2012," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 1249-1296, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sushanta K. Mallick, 2014. "Disentangling the Poverty Effects of Sectoral Output, Prices, and Policies in India," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 773-801, December.
    2. David Gordon & Shailen Nandy, 2016. "The Extent, Nature and Distribution of Child Poverty in India," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 10(1), pages 64-84, April.
    3. Ashok Kotwal & Bharat Ramaswami & Wilima Wadhwa, 2011. "Economic Liberalization and Indian Economic Growth: What's the Evidence?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1152-1199, December.
    4. Peter Lanjouw & Rinku Murgai, 2009. "Poverty decline, agricultural wages, and nonfarm employment in rural India: 1983–2004," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 243-263, March.
    5. Dhongde, Shatakshee, 2017. "Measuring Segregation of the Poor: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 111-123.
    6. Takahiro Ito, 2012. "Improvement of Socio-economic Conditions and Distribution of Consumption Expenditures: Case Study of India's Poverty Decline over Two Decades," IDEC DP2 Series 2-9, Hiroshima University, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC).
    7. Nicolas Gravel & Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay, 2010. "Is India better off today than 15 years ago? A robust multidimensional answer," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 8(2), pages 173-195, June.
    8. Ira N. Gang & Kunal Sen & Myeong‐Su Yun, 2008. "Poverty In Rural India: Caste And Tribe," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 54(1), pages 50-70, March.
    9. Shabana Mitra, 2018. "Re-Assessing “trickle-down” Using a Multidimensional Criteria: The Case of India," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 497-515, April.
    10. Bajar, Sumedha. & Rajeev, Meenakshi., 2015. "The impact of infrastructure provisioning on inequality : evidence from India," ILO Working Papers 994882713402676, International Labour Organization.
    11. Ankita Mishra & Ranjan Ray, 2013. "Multi-Dimensional Deprivation in India During and After the Reforms: Do the Household Expenditure and the Family Health Surveys Present Consistent Evidence?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 791-818, January.
    12. Ira N. Gang & Kunal Sen & Myeong-Su Yun, 2017. "Is Caste Destiny? Occupational Diversification among Dalits in Rural India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 476-492, April.
    13. Ira N. Gang & Kunal Sen & Myeong-Su Yun, 2008. "Was the Mandal Commission Right? Living Standard Differences between Backward Classes and Other Social Groups in India," CEDI Discussion Paper Series 08-12, Centre for Economic Development and Institutions(CEDI), Brunel University.
    14. M. Niaz Asadullah & Uma Kambhampati & Florencia Lopez Boo, 2014. "Social divisions in school participation and attainment in India: 1983–2004," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 38(4), pages 869-893.
    15. Mehtabul Azam, 2017. "Are Urban-Rural Welfare Differences Growing in India?," Economics Working Paper Series 1715, Oklahoma State University, Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business.
    16. Krishna, Anirudh & Shariff, Abusaleh, 2011. "The Irrelevance of National Strategies? Rural Poverty Dynamics in States and Regions of India, 1993-2005," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 533-549, April.
    17. Aradhna Aggarwal & Nagesh Kumar, 2012. "Structural Change, Industrialization and Poverty Reduction: The Case of India," Development Papers 1206, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) South and South-West Asia Office.
    18. Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty, 2019. "Indian Income Inequality, 1922‐2015: From British Raj to Billionaire Raj?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(S1), pages 33-62, November.
    19. Pinaki Das & Bibek Paria & Shama Firdaush, 2021. "Juxtaposing Consumption Poverty and Multidimensional Poverty: A Study in Indian Context," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 469-501, January.
    20. Montalvo, Jose G. & Ravallion, Martin, 2010. "The pattern of growth and poverty reduction in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 2-16, March.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bwp:bwppap:20314. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rowena Harding (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wpmanuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.