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Croissance, redistribution et lutte contre la pauvreté : l’évolution non linéaire de l’approche de la Banque mondiale

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  • Ehrhart, Christophe

    (Centre d’Études et de Recherches Économiques et Sociales de l’Université de la Réunion (CERESUR))

Abstract

This article reviews sixty years of the activity of the World Bank, by stressing the variations over time of its attitude with regard to the fight against poverty. Indeed, during the 1950s and 1960s, the World Bank considered that the best means of fighting poverty consisted in creating the conditions of the fastest possible growth by carrying out heavy investments in physical infrastructures. However, faced with the persistence of mass poverty and high inequalities in a great number of developing countries despite rather satisfactory performances in terms of growth, at the end of the 1960s the World Bank put for the first time the “war against poverty” at the centre of its agenda. Then during the 1970s it endeavoured to work out new growth strategies which are more favourable for the poor. Under the era of structural adjustment, the vision of the World Bank changed in many respects. During the first half of the 1980s, in a context of the debt crisis, the World Bank was led to put aside the objective of poverty reduction to favour the recovery of macroeconomic balances and the potential of growth of countries in difficulty. However, in response to criticism concerning the social costs of its adjustment programs, the international financial institution, at the end of the 1980s, reaffirmed its commitment to reduce poverty by giving greater importance to the social effects of short-term adjustment and proposing afterwards new strategies towards long-term poverty reduction. Cet article passe en revue 60 années d’activités de la Banque mondiale, en mettant l’accent sur les variations dans le temps de son attitude face au combat contre la pauvreté. Durant les années cinquante et soixante, la Banque mondiale considérait que le meilleur moyen de lutter contre la pauvreté consistait à créer les conditions d’une croissance la plus forte possible en procédant à des investissements lourds dans les infrastructures physiques. Toutefois, devant la persistance de la pauvreté de masse et de fortes inégalités dans bon nombre de pays en développement malgré des performances assez satisfaisantes en termes de croissance, la Banque mondiale plaça, dès la fin des années soixante, et pour la première fois, « la guerre contre la pauvreté » au centre de son agenda puis elle s’efforça d’élaborer, pendant les années soixante-dix, de nouvelles stratégies de croissance qui soient plus favorables pour les pauvres. Sous l’ère de l’ajustement structurel, la vision de la Banque mondiale a connu également de nombreuses modifications. Durant la première moitié des années quatre-vingt, dans un contexte de crise de la dette, la Banque mondiale a été conduite à reléguer l’objectif de réduction de la pauvreté au second plan, au profit de la restauration des équilibres macroéconomiques et du potentiel de croissance des pays en difficulté. Cependant, en réponse à la critique des coûts sociaux de ses programmes d’ajustement, l’institution financière internationale a réaffirmé son engagement à lutter contre la pauvreté en accordant, dès la fin des années quatre-vingt, une plus grande importance aux conséquences sociales de l’ajustement à court terme et surtout en proposant par la suite de nouvelles stratégies de lutte contre la pauvreté à long terme.

Suggested Citation

  • Ehrhart, Christophe, 2006. "Croissance, redistribution et lutte contre la pauvreté : l’évolution non linéaire de l’approche de la Banque mondiale," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 82(4), pages 597-641, décembre.
  • Handle: RePEc:ris:actuec:v:82:y:2006:i:4:p:597-641
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