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Poverty in Latin America: An Examination of the Evidence

In: Human Resources, Employment and Development

Author

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  • Oscar Altimir

    (Un Economic Commission for Latin America)

Abstract

Any assessment of the magnitude of poverty must recognise a series of conceptual and methodological limitations. The fact that the concept of poverty has no precise position in any significant body of theory forces recognition that it is an essentially normative notion. Standards respecting basic needs and what levels of satisfaction are adequate, allowing discrimination between who is and who is not to be considered poor in a certain society at a certain time, are intimately linked to some value system of which the policies selected to combat poverty and the assessment about their viability also form a part. In the final analysis these value systems rest upon some moral and political evaluation of the existing social order and the way in which society should be organised. Actually, there is no neutral definition of poverty in this respect.

Suggested Citation

  • Oscar Altimir, 1983. "Poverty in Latin America: An Examination of the Evidence," International Economic Association Series, in: Victor L. Urquidi & Saúl Trejo Reyes (ed.), Human Resources, Employment and Development, chapter 16, pages 279-298, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:intecp:978-1-349-17214-6_16
    DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-17214-6_16
    as

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