IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/azm/journl/v4y2025i1p71-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring Pro-Poor Growth Pathways for Poverty Reduction in SAARC Countries: An Empirical Analysis of Inclusive Development for Achieving SDG 1

Author

Listed:
  • Fiza Shaheen

    (The University of Haripur)

  • Khalid Zaman

    (The University of Haripur)

  • Muhammad Azhar Khan

    (The University of Haripur)

Abstract

Effective growth strategies that benefit people experiencing poverty are vital for inclusive development. This study examines SAARC countries' economic progress, income redistribution, and poverty reduction using the pro-poor growth index (PPGI) and poverty equivalent growth rate (PEGR) methodologies. The analysis includes institutional, financial, technological, and environmental factors to make index formulations using elasticity measurements on panel data from 2000 to 2022, unlike previous studies that focused on specific factors. According to the findings, the SAARC nations' pro-poor development strategies differ from one another. Unlike the Maldives, Bangladesh switched from anti-poor to pro-poor development between 2010 and 2016. India's agricultural sector reduced poverty more than its industrial and service sectors. Pakistan fluctuated between pro- and anti-poor developments, unlike Sri Lanka. These differences show how sector-specific policies and structural changes affect inclusive economic results. Policy implications show that SAARC states must strengthen social services, financial inclusion, and institutional quality to continue pro-poor growth. Pakistan's stability-driven banking reforms and India's targeted agricultural investments are needed for inclusive development. The studies analyze pro-poor development processes to help developing countries create poverty-reduction programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Fiza Shaheen & Khalid Zaman & Muhammad Azhar Khan, 2025. "Exploring Pro-Poor Growth Pathways for Poverty Reduction in SAARC Countries: An Empirical Analysis of Inclusive Development for Achieving SDG 1," Journal of Economic Sciences, Federal Urdu University Islamabad, Department of Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 71-90, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:azm:journl:v:4:y:2025:i:1:p:71-90
    DOI: 10.55603/jes.v4i1.a5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://jesciences.com/index.php/jes/article/view/115
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.55603/jes.v4i1.a5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nanak Kakwani & Zakaria Siddiqui, 2023. "Shared prosperity characterized by four development goals: pro-poor growth, pro-poor development, inclusive growth, and inclusive development," Philippine Review of Economics, University of the Philippines School of Economics and Philippine Economic Society, vol. 60(2), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Ms. Valerie Cerra & Mr. Ruy Lama & Norman Loayza, 2021. "Links Between Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: A Survey," IMF Working Papers 2021/068, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Lalith Seelanatha, 2021. "Political Instability, Civil War and Cost Efficiency of Banking Firms: A Case Study in Sri Lanka," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 294-316, September.
    4. Anis Ochi & Yosra Saidi & Mohamed Ali Labidi, 2024. "Nonlinear Threshold Effect of Governance Quality on Poverty Reduction in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa: a Dynamic Panel Threshold Specification," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4239-4264, March.
    5. Josephine Ofosu-Mensah Ababio & Eric Boachie Yiadom & Daniel Ofori-Sasu & Emmanuel Sarpong–Kumankoma, 2024. "Digital financial inclusion and inclusive development in lower-middle-income countries: the enabling role of institutional quality," Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(2/3), pages 133-151, July.
    6. Saguin, Kidjie, 2018. "Why the poor do not benefit from community-driven development: Lessons from participatory budgeting," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 220-232.
    7. Saman Herath Bandara, 2024. "Unveiling the Prospects, Impacts, and Constraints of Women’s Microfinancing Initiatives in South Asia: A Systematic Review," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-22, August.
    8. Pham, Thi Ha An & Lin, Chia-Yang & Moslehpour, Massoud & Vo, Thi Thuy Van & Nguyen, Hai-Tuan & Nguyen, Tran Thai Ha, 2024. "What role financial development and resource-curse situation play in inclusive growth of Asian countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Oussama Ritahi & Abdellah Echaoui, 2024. "Effects of Corruption, Government Effectiveness and Political stability on Economic Growth: Evidence from Morocco," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 14(4), pages 87-95, July.
    10. Unbreen Qayyum & Neelum Nigar, 2024. "Analysing the impact of idiosyncratic and covariate shocks on households’ food and non-food consumption: empirical evidence from Benazir Income Support Program," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(9), pages 23937-23960, September.
    11. Afonso, António & Blanco-Arana, M. Carmen, 2024. "Does financial inclusion enhance per capita income in the least developed countries?," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    12. Rafiq Asghar & Mohd H Sulaiman & Zuriani Mustaffa & Nasim Ullah & Waqas Hassan, 2023. "The important contribution of renewable energy technologies in overcoming Pakistan's energy crisis: Present challenges and potential opportunities," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(8), pages 3450-3494, December.
    13. Chitralada Chaiya & Sikandar Sikandar & Pichate Pinthong & Shahab E. Saqib & Niaz Ali, 2023. "The Impact of Formal Agricultural Credit on Farm Productivity and Its Utilization in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    14. Pernia, Ernesto & Kakwani, Nanak, 2000. "What is Pro-poor Growth?," MPRA Paper 104987, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Oluwayemisi Adebola Abisuga-Oyekunle & Swapan Kumar Patra & Mammo Muchie, 2020. "SMEs in sustainable development: Their role in poverty reduction and employment generation in sub-Saharan Africa," African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 405-419, June.
    16. Islam, Mohammad Mohidul, . "Agricultural Credit and Agricultural Productivity in Bangladesh: An Econometric Approach," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 8(3).
    17. Illien, Patrick & Bieri, Sabin, 2024. "Political settlements analysis and the study of pro-poor development: Laos and Rwanda compared," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    18. Hasan Mahmud & Kanij Shobnom & Md. Mizanoor Rahman, 2024. "Spatial Inequality in Socio-economic Development in Bangladesh: An Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 1087-1109, February.
    19. Anis Ochi & Mohamed Ali Labidi & Yosra Saidi, 2024. "The Nexus Between Pro-poor Growth, Inequality, Institutions and Poverty: Evidence from Low and Middle Income Developing Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 172(2), pages 703-739, March.
    20. Sabika Khalid & Endale Tadesse, 2024. "Understanding Primary School Enrollment in the Free Education Era Through Large-Scale from Punjab, Pakistan: Roadblocks to Meeting the Sustainable Development Goal," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(2), pages 753-778, April.
    21. Nicky Pouw & Katja Bender, 2022. "The Poverty Reduction Effect of Social Protection: The Pros and Cons of a Multidisciplinary Approach," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(5), pages 2204-2223, October.
    22. Aleksandr Grigoryan & Knar Khachatryan & Pundarik Mukhopadhaya, 2024. "Effectiveness of the main national pro-poor targeted program in Armenia: evidence from the period 2004–2018," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(16), pages 1971-1989, April.
    23. Dilshad Ahmad & Malika Kanwal & Muhammad Afzal, 2023. "Climate change effects on riverbank erosion Bait community flood-prone area of Punjab, Pakistan: an application of livelihood vulnerability index," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 9387-9415, September.
    24. Zainab Fatima & Naeem Ahmad & Rabiya Imran, 2024. "Impact of Income Inequality and Population Density on Carbon Emissions in Pakistan," Journal of Economic Sciences, Federal Urdu University Islamabad, Department of Economics, vol. 3(1), pages 103-120, June.
    25. Nanak Kakwani & Ernesto M. Pernia, 2000. "What is Pro-poor Growth?," Asian Development Review (ADR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(01), pages 1-16.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mirjalili, Seyed Hossein & Mohseni Charaghlou, Amin & Safari, Omid, 2017. "Inclusive Growth in Iran's Provinces (2004 -2015)," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 9(2), pages 5-27.
    2. Kraay, Aart, 2004. "When is growth pro-poor? Cross-country evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3225, The World Bank.
    3. Vîntu, Denis, 2024. "Heterogeneous Effects of Fiscal Rules Under the Maastricht Fiscal Criterion: Budget Fiscal Deficit and Debt Sustainability Analysis," MPRA Paper 125855, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Oct 2024.
    4. David Woodward & Andrew Simms, 2006. "Growth is Failing the Poor: The Unbalanced Distribution of the Benefits and Costs of Global Economic Growth," Working Papers 20, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    5. Ravallion, Martin, 2005. "Inequality is bad for the poor," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3677, The World Bank.
    6. Touhami Abdelkhalek & Dorothee Boccanfuso, 2023. "Is the Moroccan Fiscal System Progressive ? A Shapley Decomposition," Policy briefs on Economic Trends and Policies 2342, Policy Center for the New South.
    7. Thi Hong Hanh Pham, 2022. "Shadow Economy and Poverty: What Causes What?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(4), pages 861-891, December.
    8. Peter Warr, 2005. "Pro‐poor Growth," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 19(2), pages 1-17, November.
    9. Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Tasneem Zafar & Alfons Weichenrieder, 2011. "Evaluating Real World Income Distributions behind the Veil of Ignorance - How Risk Averse do you have to be to Prefer Europe over the US?," CESifo Working Paper Series 3632, CESifo.
    10. Murshed Syed Mansoob, 2008. "Development despite Modest Growth in the Middle East," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 4(3), pages 1-31, September.
    11. Gul, Adnan, 2008. "Is external debt an effective way of bringing economic reforms?," MPRA Paper 10979, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. repec:ocp:ppaper:pb21-24 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Panek, Tomasz, . "Czy wzrost gospodarczy w Polsce w latach 2005 -2015 był korzystny dla ubogich?," Gospodarka Narodowa-The Polish Journal of Economics, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie / SGH Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 2019(2).
    14. Mohamed Arouri & Nguyen Viet Cuong, 2020. "Wealth inequality and inter-governorate migration: Evidence from Egypt," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 20(2), pages 119-139, April.
    15. Priyabrata Sahoo & Debolina Biswas & Saswata Guha Thakurata, 2023. "Is Growth Pro-poor Among the States of India? A Poverty Decomposition Exercise During the 2000s," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 107-133, January.
    16. Rolf Maier, 2005. "Exchange Rate Regimes and Pro-Poor Growth," International Finance 0504008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Rolf Maier, 2005. "External Debt and Pro-Poor Growth," Macroeconomics 0504031, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Mwangi S. Kimenyi, 2006. "Economic Reforms and Pro-Poor Growth: Lessons for Africa and other Developing Regions and Economies in Transition," Working papers 2006-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    19. Rolf Maier, 2005. "Trade Policy and Pro-Poor Growth," International Trade 0504007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Elena Bárcena‐Martin & Jacques Silber & Yuan Zhang, 2024. "Measures of Relative and Absolute Convergence and Pro‐poor Growth with an Illustration based on China (2010–2018)," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 32(2), pages 1-41, March.
    21. 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).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • F63 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Economic Development

    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:azm:journl:v:4:y:2025:i:1:p:71-90. 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: Dr. Ihtsham Ul Haq (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.fuuastisb.edu.pk/ .

    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.