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Inequality is bad for the poor

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Ravallion, Martin

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Abstract

It has been argued that inequality should be of little concern in poor countries on the grounds that (1) absolute poverty in terms of consumption (or income) is the overriding issue in poor countries, and (2) the only thing that really matters to reducing absolute income poverty is the rate of economic growth. The author takes (1) as given but questions (2). He argues that there are a number of ways in which the extent of inequality in a society, and how it evolves over time, influences the extent of poverty today and the prospects for rapid poverty reduction in the future.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 3677.

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Date of creation: 01 Aug 2005
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3677

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Galor, Oded & Zeira, Joseph, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Ravallion, Martin, 2001. "Growth, inequality, and poverty : looking beyond averages," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2558, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Alesina, Alberto & Rodrik, Dani, 1994. "Distributive Politics and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(2), pages 465-90, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Galasso, Emanuela & Ravallion, Martin, 2005. "Decentralized targeting of an antipoverty program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 705-727, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2002. " Growth Is Good for the Poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 195-225, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 1997. "What Can New Survey Data Tell Us about Recent Changes in Distribution and Poverty?," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 357-82, May.
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  7. Birdsall, Nancy & Ross, David & Sabot, Richard, 1995. "Inequality and Growth Reconsidered: Lessons from East Asia," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 477-508, September.
  8. Bénabou, Roland, 1996. "Inequality and Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 1450, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1998. "New ways of looking at old issues: inequality and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 259-287. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-66, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 2005. "Hidden impact? Household saving in response to a poor-area development project," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(11-12), pages 2183-2204, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Ravallion, Martin & Huppi, Monika, 1991. "Measuring Changes in Poverty: A Methodological Case Study of Indonesia during an Adjustment Period," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 57-82, January.
  13. Ravallion, Martin, 2004. "Competing concepts of inequality in the globalization debate," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3243, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  14. Philippe Aghion & Eve Caroli & Cecilia Garcia-Penalosa, 1999. "Inequality and Economic Growth: The Perspective of the New Growth Theories," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1615-1660, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Hyun H. Son & Nanak Kakwani, 2004. "Economic growth and poverty reduction: initial conditions matter," Working Papers 2, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth. [Downloadable!]
  16. Bardhan, Pranab & Bowles, Samuel & Gintis, Herbert, 2000. "Wealth inequality, wealth constraints and economic performance," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 10, pages 541-603 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Ravallion, Martin & Datt, Gaurav, 1996. "How Important to India's Poor Is the Sectoral Composition of Economic Growth?," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 1-25, January.
  18. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1994. "Is Inequality Harmful for Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 600-621, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Kakwani, Nanak, 1993. "Poverty and Economic Growth with Application to Cote d'Ivoire," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(2), pages 121-39, June.
  20. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-98, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. Perotti, Roberto, 1996. " Growth, Income Distribution, and Democracy: What the Data Say," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 149-87, June.
  22. Gastwirth, Joseph L, 1971. "A General Definition of the Lorenz Curve," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(6), pages 1037-39, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Clarke, George R. G., 1995. "More evidence on income distribution and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 403-427, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Gutierrez, Catalina & Orecchia, Carlo & Paci, Pierella & Serneels, Pieter, 2007. "Does employment generation really matter for poverty reduction ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4432, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Gabriele, Alberto & Schettino, Francesco, 2007. "Child Malnutrition and Mortality in Developing Countries: Evidence from a Cross-Country Analysis," MPRA Paper 3132, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jul 2007. [Downloadable!]
  3. Alberto, Gabriele & Schettino, Francesco, 2006. "Child Mortality In China And Vietnam In A Comparative Perspective," MPRA Paper 3987, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Dec 2006. [Downloadable!]
  4. Ugo Gentilini, 2006. "How are We doing on Poverty and Hunger Reduction? A New Measyre of Country-Level Progress," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0068, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre. [Downloadable!]
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