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Why have some Indian states performed better than others at reducing rural poverty?

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  • Datt, Gaurav
  • Ravallion, Martin

Abstract

Rural poverty rankings of Indian states in 1990 were very different from 1960. This unevenness in progress allows us to study the causes of poverty in a developing rural economy. We model the evolution of various poverty measures, using pooled state-level data for the period 1957-91. Differences in trend rates of poverty reduction are attributed to differing growth rates of farm yield per acre, and differing initial conditions; states starting with better infrastructure and human resources saw significantly higher long-term rates of poverty reduction. Deviations from the trend are attributed to inflation (which hurt the poor in the short term) and shocks to farm and nonfarm output.

Suggested Citation

  • Datt, Gaurav & Ravallion, Martin, 1997. "Why have some Indian states performed better than others at reducing rural poverty?," FCND discussion papers 26, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:26
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    1. Ravallion, Martin & Datt, Gaurav, 1995. "Growth and poverty in rural India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1405, The World Bank.
    2. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-766, May.
    3. Ravallion, Martin & Datt, Gaurav, 1996. "How Important to India's Poor Is the Sectoral Composition of Economic Growth?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 10(1), pages 1-25, January.
    4. Lipton, Michael & Ravallion, Martin, 1995. "Poverty and policy," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 41, pages 2551-2657, Elsevier.
    5. Datt, Gaurav*Ravallion, Martin, 1990. "Regional disparities, targeting, and poverty in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 375, The World Bank.
    6. Sargan, J D, 1980. "Some Tests of Dynamic Specification for a Single Equation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 879-897, May.
    7. Hammond, Peter J & Rodriguez-Clare, Andres, 1993. " On Endogenizing Long-Run Growth," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(4), pages 391-425, December.
    8. Bell, Clive & Rich, Robert, 1994. "Rural Poverty and Aggregate Agricultural Performance in Post-independence India," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 56(2), pages 111-133, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jin, Songqing & Yu, Winston & Jansen, Hans G.P. & Muraoka, Rie, 2012. "The impact of Irrigation on Agricultural Productivity: Evidence from India," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126868, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. 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.
    3. Fan, Shenggen & Hazell, P. B. R., 1997. "Should India invest more in less-favored areas?:," EPTD discussion papers 25, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. World Bank, 2003. "India : Sustaining Reform, Reducing Poverty," World Bank Publications - Reports 14617, The World Bank Group.
    5. Fan, Shenggen & Jitsuchon, Somchai & Methakunnavut, Nuntaporn, 2004. "The importance of public investment for reducing rural poverty in middle-income countries: the case of Thailand," DSGD discussion papers 7, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Fan, Shenggen & Hazell, P. B. R., 1999. "Are returns to public investment lower in less-favored rural areas?: an empirical analysis of India," EPTD discussion papers 43, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Shyma Jose & Ashok Gulati & Kriti Khuran, 2020. "Achieving Nutritional Security in India: Vision 2030," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Report 20-r-05, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi, India.
    8. Gutner, Tammi, 1999. "The political economy of Food subsidy reform in Egypt," FCND briefs 1, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Fan, Shenggen & Hazell, P. B. R. & Thorat, Sukhadeo, 1999. "Linkages between government spending, growth, and poverty in rural India:," Research reports 110, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Datt, Gaurav, 1998. "Poverty in India and Indian states," FCND discussion papers 47, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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    Keywords

    Rural poor; India; Poverty; Rural;
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