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How Strong is the Evidence for the Existence of Poverty Traps? A Multicountry Assessment

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  • Andy McKay
  • Emilie Perge

Abstract

Introducing this special collection on asset dynamics and poverty traps, this article assesses evidence on these issues across eight panel data sets in six countries generally not previously considered in this perspective. It examines the importance of assets in relation to chronic poverty and uses parametric and non-parametric methods to test for dynamic asset-based poverty traps. The article finds that chronically poor households have lower levels of assets than others, though does not find evidence of the non-convexities which would imply a multiple dynamic poverty trap. From this base the article introduces the remainder of the articles in this collection which set out many promising approaches to further develop and improve methods and approaches for looking at poverty traps in future.

Suggested Citation

  • Andy McKay & Emilie Perge, 2013. "How Strong is the Evidence for the Existence of Poverty Traps? A Multicountry Assessment," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(7), pages 877-897, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:49:y:2013:i:7:p:877-897
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2013.785521
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    1. Arunachalam, Raj & Shenoy, Ajay, 2017. "Poverty traps, convergence, and the dynamics of household income," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 215-230.
    2. Kurosaki, Takashi, 2017. "Household-Level Recovery after Floods in a Tribal and Conflict-Ridden Society," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 51-63.
    3. Perge, Emilie & McKay, Andy, 2016. "Forest clearing, livelihood strategies and welfare: Evidence from the Tsimane' in Bolivia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 112-124.
    4. Janz, Teresa & Augsburg, Britta & Gassmann, Franziska & Nimeh, Zina, 2023. "Leaving no one behind: Urban poverty traps in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    5. Cissé, Jennifer Denno & Barrett, Christopher B., 2018. "Estimating development resilience: A conditional moments-based approach," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 272-284.
    6. Shimeles, Abebe, 2014. "Growth and Poverty in Africa: Shifting Fortunes and New Perspectives," IZA Discussion Papers 8751, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Agnes R. Quisumbing & Neha Kumar & Julia A. Behrman, 2018. "Do shocks affect men's and women's assets differently? Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(1), pages 3-34, January.
    8. Alicia Chavez & Marcelo Lufin, 2022. "Household asset dynamics and shocks: an empirical assessment of asset-based poverty traps in Peru," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(1), pages 57-87, August.
    9. Katharina Lehmann-Uschner & Kati Krähnert, 2018. "When Shocks Become Persistent: Household-Level Asset Growth in the Aftermath of an Extreme Weather Event," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1759, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    10. Giulia Malevolti, 2022. "Can weather shocks give rise to a poverty trap? Evidence from Nigeria," Working Papers - Economics wp2022_10.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    11. Li Zhou & Jie Sun & Wuyang Hu & Yu Zhang, 2023. "Asset Smoothing and Consumption Smoothing: Disaster‐coping Strategies in Noncontiguous and Contiguous Destitute Areas," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(2), pages 223-250, March.
    12. John K. Pattison‐Williams & Philippe Marcoul & Sandeep Mohapatra, 2023. "Intrahousehold moral hazard frictions and household poverty traps in rural India," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 67-96, January.
    13. Sandeep Mohapatra, 2021. "A new approach for detecting multiple‐equilibria poverty traps," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5), pages 894-909, July.
    14. You, Jing, 2014. "Risk, under-investment in agricultural assets and dynamic asset poverty in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 27-45.
    15. Malevolti, Giulia, 2022. "Can weather shocks give rise to a poverty trap? Evidence from Nigeria," 96th Annual Conference, April 4-6, 2022, K U Leuven, Belgium 321172, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    16. Takashi Kurosaki, 2013. "Dynamics of Household Assets and Income Shocks in the Long-run Process of Economic Development: The Case of Rural Pakistan," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 30(2), pages 76-109, September.
    17. Dylan Fitz & Shyam Gouri Suresh, 2021. "Poverty traps across levels of aggregation," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 16(4), pages 909-953, October.
    18. Christopher Barrett & Cissé Jennifer Denno, 2016. "Working Paper 236 - Estimating Development Resilience: A Conditional Moments-Based Approach," Working Paper Series 2340, African Development Bank.
    19. Kurosaki, Takashi & 黒崎, 卓, 2015. "Household-Level Recovery after Floods in a Tribal and Conflict-Ridden Society," CEI Working Paper Series 2015-5, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    20. Agnes Quisumbing & Deborah Rubin & Cristina Manfre & Elizabeth Waithanji & Mara van den Bold & Deanna Olney & Nancy Johnson & Ruth Meinzen-Dick, 2015. "Gender, assets, and market-oriented agriculture: learning from high-value crop and livestock projects in Africa and Asia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 705-725, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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