The Politics of Poverty

Social Change ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-240
Author(s):  
Digvijay Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Poverty Line ◽  
Poverty Rate ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Poverty Levels

The reduction in the official poverty rate seen in relation with increasing morbidity status, a mammoth income gap between the rich and the poor, ambiguous methodology followed to calculate Below Poverty Line Census and government policies on poverty reduction tends to question the whole poverty line debate. The official commitment to higher economic growth may reflect booming economic growth but it also has led to a large gap between the rich and the poor in both regional and social dimensions. To look into the causes and ameliorate poverty levels, various committees and policies have identified poverty levels. Using different criteria and methods, they still have failed to look at the social and political aspects. It is politics that has engulfed the whole discourse over universalisation of social welfare policies as some sort of justification behind the nation’s fiscal deficit and subsidy constraint-related questions.

scholarly journals Making Business Work for Development: Issues for Small to Medium Enterprises

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Paul Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Global Market ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Medium Enterprises

<p>This thesis examines the question of whether business can be made to work for development. Can the standards that are used to measure development projects be applied to the outcomes of business ventures in developing countries? Proponents of neoliberal economic globalisation claim that economic growth is, by definition, good for the poor, and that the opening of global markets gives unprecedented opportunities for poverty reduction. 'Aid for Trade' is now a significant proportion of ODA funding. This is aid that is directed at assisting developing countries to be able to enter the global market. The claim is that the removal of trade barriers and the facilitation of smooth trade processes will be the key to achieving the MDG targets for poverty alleviation. Literature however suggests that such claims are much exaggerated, and that the global market does not automatically work to benefit the poor. Even where good rates of growth are achieved in a country, the poor are left behind, with widening income gaps between the rich and poor. This thesis examines these issues before investigating the concept of 'pro-poor business'. Economic growth can be structured to have positive benefits for the poor. It does not happen automatically, but it can be intentionally built into economic growth structures. There are some basic and fairly simple steps which all business could adopt to assist in poverty alleviation. Beyond this there are business ventures that are proactive in targeting the needs of poor communities. The thesis looks at case studies of six businesses started by expatriate entrepreneurs in six Asian countries. The businesses are investigated by a qualitative study that uses an emailed questionnaire followed up by further email and phone discussions. The businesses have been chosen to illustrate the possibilities over a range of types and sizes of business, and the degree to which they are intentional in targeting specific poverty issues. The businesses are asked questions both about their business structures and also about the extent to which they achieve development oriented goals. Issues faced by the businesses in this melding of business and development concerns are examined. The conclusion is that there are opportunities arising from globalisation that can be taken and shaped to enable the poor to become participants in the global economy.</p>

scholarly journals POVERTY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A REVIEW

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marinko ŠKARE ◽  
Romina PRŽIKLAS DRUŽETA
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Poor Growth ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Similar Growth

The objective of this paper is to review and attempt a synthesis of the relevant literature on growth versus poverty, and to analyze the causal link between the two phenomena. Research issues that drive our study are: Does economic growth tend to “raise all boats” as Kuznets (1955) pointed out? What is the role of the pattern of growth in the process of development? Which factor must we consider in designing appropriate pro-poor growth policies? This paper finds considerable variation in the poverty–reducing effectiveness of growth across time and authors. Also, our analysis speaks in favour of the fact that as growth occurs poverty reduces, no matter the level of inequality. Identically, similar growth pattern has different effects on poverty reduction. We conclude that growth is good for poverty alleviation but it is not enough. The extent to which growth reduces poverty depends upon how we measure poverty, and upon absorptive capacity of the poor, the pace and pattern of growth. In times when the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, “trickle-down” effect becomes a scenario that need to be reviewed.

scholarly journals Making Business Work for Development: Issues for Small to Medium Enterprises

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Paul Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Global Market ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Medium Enterprises

<p>This thesis examines the question of whether business can be made to work for development. Can the standards that are used to measure development projects be applied to the outcomes of business ventures in developing countries? Proponents of neoliberal economic globalisation claim that economic growth is, by definition, good for the poor, and that the opening of global markets gives unprecedented opportunities for poverty reduction. 'Aid for Trade' is now a significant proportion of ODA funding. This is aid that is directed at assisting developing countries to be able to enter the global market. The claim is that the removal of trade barriers and the facilitation of smooth trade processes will be the key to achieving the MDG targets for poverty alleviation. Literature however suggests that such claims are much exaggerated, and that the global market does not automatically work to benefit the poor. Even where good rates of growth are achieved in a country, the poor are left behind, with widening income gaps between the rich and poor. This thesis examines these issues before investigating the concept of 'pro-poor business'. Economic growth can be structured to have positive benefits for the poor. It does not happen automatically, but it can be intentionally built into economic growth structures. There are some basic and fairly simple steps which all business could adopt to assist in poverty alleviation. Beyond this there are business ventures that are proactive in targeting the needs of poor communities. The thesis looks at case studies of six businesses started by expatriate entrepreneurs in six Asian countries. The businesses are investigated by a qualitative study that uses an emailed questionnaire followed up by further email and phone discussions. The businesses have been chosen to illustrate the possibilities over a range of types and sizes of business, and the degree to which they are intentional in targeting specific poverty issues. The businesses are asked questions both about their business structures and also about the extent to which they achieve development oriented goals. Issues faced by the businesses in this melding of business and development concerns are examined. The conclusion is that there are opportunities arising from globalisation that can be taken and shaped to enable the poor to become participants in the global economy.</p>

scholarly journals Vertical position can affect categorization of the rich and the poor in Chinese culture

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 183449092110257
Author(s):  
Qiong Li ◽  
Chen Deng ◽  
Bin Zuo ◽  
Xiaobin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Social Categorization ◽  
High Income ◽  
Vertical Position ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich

This study explored whether vertical position affects social categorization of the rich and the poor. Experiment 1 used high- and low-income occupations as stimuli, and found participants categorized high-income occupations faster when they were presented in the top vertical position compared to the bottom vertical position. In Experiment 2, participants responded using either the “up” or “down” key to categorize high- and low-income occupations, and responded faster to high-income occupations with the “up” key and low-income occupations with the “down” key. In Experiment 3, names identified as belonging to either rich or poor individuals were presented at the top or bottom of a screen, and the results were the same as in Experiments 1 and 2. These findings suggest that social categorization based on wealth involved perceptual simulations of vertical position, and that vertical position affects the social categorization of the rich and the poor.

scholarly journals INDIKATOR MAKROEKONOMI DAN PEMBANGUNAN KOTA BANDUNG

2019 ◽  
pp. 622
Author(s):  
Teguh Santoso ◽  
Bayu Kharisma
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Autoregressive Moving Average Model ◽  
Food Commodities ◽  
The City ◽  
Poverty Levels

The high rate of inflation has the potential to increase poverty because it can reduce people's purchasing power, where if inflation rises significantly it can shift the people who are categorized as not poor, become vulnerable to poverty, almost poor and even poor. The aims of this study are to analyze the development of macroeconomic indicators, namely inflation and economic growth that are associated with poverty levels in the city of Bandung. The methodology used in this study is descriptive analysis and the ARMA (autoregressive moving average) model. The results showed that the high inflation in the city of Bandung compared to national and West Java inflation carries its own burden for the economy of the community, where purchasing power will decrease when inflation rises significantly and will have an impact on people's welfare. Inflation in the city of Bandung is often due to the price of food commodities (volatile food inflation). In addition, the high economic growth in the city of Bandung is not directly proportional to the decline in poverty levels. This shows that the quality of economic growth in the city of Bandung has problems that need attention. Therefore, local government in their efforts to encourage economic growth must prioritize poverty reduction and inequality.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN THROUGH MICRO CREDIT: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

2021 ◽  
pp. 58-60
Author(s):  
T. Indumathi ◽  
G. Savaraiah
Keyword(s):  
Rural Women ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Poverty Line ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
Political Empowerment ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Micro Credit

The World Bank's Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project supports the self helf groups of the women members. It promotes women's social, economic, legal and political empowerment to reduce poverty among the poor and the poorest of the poor. The important object of this article is to examine the impact of micronance on the socio economic empowerment of the rural women supported by the national reputed NGO- Rashtriya Seva Samithi (RASS). 184 women members of the SHGs promoted by Rasthriya Seva Samathi (RASS) an NGO which located in Tirupati town. 184 samples are selected randomly from 15 SHGs scattered throughout the Tirupati rural mandal (Taluk) from the area of the study have been considered to conduct the present research study. The study reveals that 87.71 percent of the sample women were below the poverty line before joining the SHGs. As a result of SHG, about 40 percent of the sample women crossed the poverty line. The highest intensive value indicates that more women have participated in social agitations for the welfare of the children and the society. The second highest intensity reveals that considerable numbers of women of SHGs have participated in the government sponsored schemes. The 1st point secured 3rd rank with total intensity value of 605 which status that the micro credit has resulted in increased social status and empowerment.

scholarly journals THE RICH AND THE POOR IN A SIMPLE MODEL OF GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1934-1952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirill Borissov
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Steady State ◽  
Simple Model ◽  
Disposable Income ◽  
State Equilibrium ◽  
Positional Concerns ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Intertemporal Equilibrium ◽  
Unique Steady State

We consider a model of economic growth with altruistic agents who care about their consumption and the disposable income of their offspring. The agents' consumption and the offspring's disposable income are subject to positional concerns. We show that, if the measure of consumption-related positional concerns is sufficiently low and/or the measure of offspring-related positional concerns is sufficiently high, then there is a unique steady-state equilibrium, which is characterized by perfect income and wealth equality, and all intertemporal equilibira converge to it. Otherwise, in steady-state equilibria, the population splits into two classes, the rich and the poor; under this scenario, in any intertemporal equilibrium, all capital is eventually owned by the households that were the wealthiest from the outset and all other households become poor.

scholarly journals Pro-poor Growth: Concepts and Measurement with Country Case Studies (Distinguished Lecture)

2003 ◽  
Vol 42 (4I) ◽  
pp. 417-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanak Kakwani ◽  
Hyun H. Son
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Poor Growth ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Actual Growth Rate ◽  
Actual Growth ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Increasing Function ◽  
Proportional Reduction

This paper looks into the interrelation between economic growth, inequality, and poverty. Using the notion of pro-poor growth, we examine the extent to which the poor benefit from economic growth. First, various approaches to defining and measuring propoor growth are scrutinised using a variety of criteria. It is argued that the satisfaction of a monotonicity axiom is a key criterion for measuring pro-poor growth. The monotonicity axiom sets out a condition that the proportional reduction in poverty is a monotonically increasing function of the pro-poor growth measure. The paper proposes a pro-poor growth measure that satisfies the monotonicity criterion. This measure is called a ‘poverty equivalent growth rate’, which takes into account both the magnitude of growth and how the benefits of growth are distributed to the poor and the non-poor. As the new measure satisfies the criterion of monotonicity, it is indicative that to achieve rapid poverty reduction, the poverty equivalent growth rate—rather than the actual growth rate—ought to be maximised. The methodology developed in the paper is then applied to three Asian countries, namely, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

scholarly journals Maneuvering between the individual and the social dimensions of narratives in a poor man’s discursive negotiation of stigma

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorien Van De Mieroop
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Goods ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Information Control ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
Dominant Discourses ◽  
The Individual

In current Western consumer societies, the poor are excluded and occupy stigmatized positions. By analyzing an interview with a poor man, I look at how stigma is discursively negotiated through the interplay between individual and social dimensions of narratives. First, the interviewee resists the interviewer’s ‘poor man’-category projection by setting up alternative groups. Second, he invokes and aligns with dominant discourses regarding the necessity to own consumer goods and find a work-life balance, by which he constructs the identity of an empowered “bricoleur” (cf Gabriel et al., 2010). These findings are then related to Goffman’s theory of stigma and information control (1963) and to the inextricable link between the performed nature of narratives, their individual and social dimensions and their local and global contexts.

Income Inequality and Economic Development

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew McKeever
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Considerable Debate ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

The nature of the relationship between economic development and income inequality has long been the subject of considerable debate. Economic growth has very different effects on poverty, depending on a country’s level of income inequality. In high inequality countries, economic growth that raises the overall level of income disproportionately tends to benefit the rich, whereas policies that encourage economic growth while reducing income inequality will greatly accelerate the achievement of poverty reduction goals. Thus, understanding how income inequality and economic development are linked is important for establishing economic growth policies that reduce poverty. The literature on the economic development–income inequality nexus in industrial society places emphasis on the causes of current social inequality. The central and most cited paper in the literature is S. Kuznets’s “Economic Growth and Income Inequality” (1955), which proposed an inverted U-shaped relationship between development and inequality over the course of industrialization. Some scholars have tried to build upon Kuznets’s theory by focusing on his claim that income inequality is a function of the nature of regulations put on the market. Other studies deal with the importance of studying the relationship between democracy and inequality, the effect of the nature of the government on shaping inequality compared to industrialization, and the implications of globalization for income inequality. This overview of the literature shows that there is little true consensus on the relationship between inequality and development and highlights two major areas for improvement: measurement and data quality.

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