The Role of Inequality for Poverty Reduction

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

Towards the reversal of poverty and income inequality setbacks due to COVID-19: the role of globalisation and resource allocation

“…But with social protection or safety nets already lacking, and vulnerable employment projected to rise in the region, more people could slip into the shackles of poverty due to rising susceptibility of the region to economic and financial shocks. The effect of inequality (Palma ratio) is also strong and positive, with a magnitude of 0.09 per cent (Column 8) providing evidence of the 'twin-dividend' argument in the case of MENA (see, Bergstrom 2020;Lakner et al 2020). Further, irrespective of the poverty model we specify, we find a strong empirical evidence that previous year's level of poverty induces current incidence and depth of poverty in MENA by a remarkable 1.8 per cent (Column 8).…”

“…These are: (1) economic globalisation and government expenditure, and (2) economic globalisation and financial deepening. 17 Inequality enters the poverty equation only as a control following the argument ofRavallion (2004) andBergstrom (2020) …”

An Asymmetric Investigation of Remittance and Trade Openness Impact on Inequality: Evidence From Selected South Asian Countries

“…However, the connection between injustice and the mechanism of economic growth is far from well understood (Aghion et al, 1999;Islam and McGillivray, 2020). The impact of income and wealth disparity on socioeconomic influences has been the primary interest of social science (Kim et al, 2020;Bergstrom, 2020;Seo et al, 2020). The empirical literature is identified to support that income allocation plays a significant role in economic development.…”

Towards the Reversal of Poverty and Income Inequality Setbacks Due to COVID-19: The Role of Globalisation and Resource Allocation

“…But with social protection or safety nets already lacking, and vulnerable employment projected to rise in the region, more people could slip into the shackles of poverty due to rising susceptibility of the region to economic and financial shocks. The effect of inequality (Palma ratio) is also strong and positive, with a magnitude of 0.09 per cent (Column 8) providing evidence of the 'twin-dividend' argument in the case of MENA (see, Bergstrom 2020;Lakner et al 2020). Further, irrespective of the poverty model we specify, we find a strong empirical evidence that previous year's level of poverty induces current incidence and depth of poverty in MENA by a remarkable 1.8 per cent (Column 8).…”