Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics pp 1–9Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Poverty Alleviation Programmes

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Abstract

This article reviews the issues and evidence concerning a class of policies that aim to reduce poverty by providing direct current relief to those in need and/or by compensating for market and governmental failures that help perpetuate poverty. The article focuses on programmes found in developing countries. Poverty proxies or self-targeting mechanisms are typically used and the specific policies discussed include contingent transfers, community-based programmes, social funds and workfare programmes.

This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, 2008. Edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Bibliography

  • Aghion, P., E. Caroli, and C. Garcia-Penalosa. 1999. Inequality and economic growth: The perspectives of the new growth theories. Journal of Economic Literature 37: 1615–1660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alderman, H. 1987. Allocation of goods through non-price mechanisms: Evidence on distribution by willingness to wait. Journal of Development Economics 25: 105–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banerjee, A., and A. Newman. 1994. Poverty, incentives and development. American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 84: 211–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardhan, P., and D. Mookherjee. 2000. Capture and governance at local and national levels. American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 90: 135–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardhan, P., S. Bowles, and H. Gintis. 2000. Wealth inequality, wealth constraints and economic performance. In Handbook of income distribution, vol. 1, ed. A. Atkinson and F. Bourguignon. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behrman, J., Sengupta, P. and Todd, P. 2002. Progressing through PROGRESSA: An impact assessment of a school subsidy program. Mimeo: University of Pennsylvania.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bénabou, R. 1993. Workings of a city: Location, education and production. Quarterly Journal of Economics 108: 619–652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bénabou, R. 1996. Inequality and growth. In National Bureau of Economic Research macroeconomics annual, ed. B. Bernanke and J. Rotemberg. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Besley, T., and S. Coate. 1992. Workfare vs. welfare: Incentive arguments for work requirements in poverty alleviation programs. American Economic Review 82: 249–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Besley, T., and R. Kanbur. 1993. Principles of targeting. In Including the poor, ed. M. Lipton and J. van der Gaag. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Besley, T., R. Pande, L. Rahman, and V. Rao. 2004. The politics of public good provision: Evidence from Indian local governments. Journal of the European Economic Association 2: 416–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binswanger, H., K. Deininger, and G. Feder. 1995. Power, distortions, revolt and reform in agricultural and land relations. In Handbook of development economics, vol. 3, ed. J. Behrman and T. Srinivasan. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowles, S., and H. Gintis. 1996. Efficient redistribution: New rules for markets, states and communities. Politics and Society 24: 307–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coady, D., M. Grosh, and J. Hoddinott. 2004. Targeting outcomes redux. World Bank Research Observer 19: 61–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das, J., Q.-T. Do, and B. Ozler. 2004. A welfare analysis of conditional cash transfer schemes: Implications for policy. World Bank Research Observe 20: 57–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, P. 1993. An inquiry into well-being and destitution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Datt, G., and M. Ravallion. 1994. Transfer benefits from public works employment: Evidence from rural India. Economic Journal 104: 1346–1369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drèze, J., and A. Sen. 1989. Hunger and public action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duflo, E. 2003. Grandmothers and granddaughters: Old age pension and intrahousehold allocation in South Africa. World Bank Economic Review 17: 1–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durlauf, S. 1996. A theory of persistent income inequality. Journal of Economic Growth 1: 75–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elbers, C., P. Lanjouw, and J. Lanjouw. 2003. Micro-level estimation of poverty and inequality. Econometrica 71: 355–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engerman, S. and K. Sokoloff. 2005. Colonialism, inequality and long-run paths of development. Working Paper No. 11057. Cambridge, MA: NBER.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaiha, R. 1996. How dependent are the rural poor on employment guarantee scheme in India? Journal of Development Studies 32: 669–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galasso, E., and M. Ravallion. 2004. Social protection in a crisis: Argentina’s Plan Jefes y Jefas. World Bank Economic Review 18: 367–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galasso, E., and M. Ravallion. 2005. Decentralized targeting of an anti-poverty program. Journal of Public Economics 85: 705–727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gelbach, J., and L. Pritchett. 2000. Indicator targeting in a political economy: Leakier can be better. Journal of Policy Reform 4: 113–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grosh, M. 1995. Toward quantifying the trade-off: Administrative costs and incidence in targeted programs in Latin America. In Public spending and the poor: Theory and evidence, ed. D. van de Walle and K. Nead. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoff, K. 2001. Beyond Rosenstein-Rodan: The modern theory of coordination problems in development. In Proceedings of the annual world bank conference on development economics 2000. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jalan, J., and M. Ravallion. 1998. Are there dynamic gains from a poor-area development program? Journal of Public Economics 67: 65–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jalan, J., and M. Ravallion. 2002. Geographic poverty traps? A micro model of consumption growth in rural China? Journal of Applied Econometrics 17: 329–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jalan, J., and M. Ravallion. 2003. Estimating the benefit incidence of an anti-poverty program by propensity-score matching. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 21: 19–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanjouw, P., and M. Ravallion. 1995. Poverty and household size. Economic Journal 105: 1415–1435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipton, M., and M. Ravallion. 1995. Poverty and policy. In Handbook of development economics, vol. 3, ed. J. Behrman and T. Srinivasan. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lokshin, M., and M. Ravallion. 2000. Welfare impacts of Russia’s 1998 financial crisis and the response of the public safety net. Economics of Transition 8: 269–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansuri, G., and V. Rao. 2004. Community-based and -driven development. World Bank Research Observer 19: 1–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pritchett, L., S. Sumarto, and A. Suryahadi. 2003. Safety nets or safety ropes? Dynamic benefit incidence of two crisis programs in Indonesia. World Development 31: 1257–1277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M. 1993. Poverty alleviation through regional targeting: A case study for Indonesia. In The economics of rural organization: Theory, practice and policy, ed. K. Hoff, A. Braverman, and J. Stiglitz. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M. 2005a. Transfers and safety nets in poor countries: Revisiting the tradeoffs and policy options. In Understanding poverty, ed. A. Banerjee, R. Bénabou, and D. Mookerjee. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M. 2005b. Evaluating anti-poverty programs. In Handbook of agricultural economics, vol. 4, ed. R. Evenson and T. Schultz. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M. 2005c. Who is protected? On the incidence of fiscal adjustment. In Macroeconomic policies and poverty reduction, ed. A. Mody and C. Pattillo. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M., and G. Datt. 1995. Is targeting through a work requirement efficient? In Public spending and the poor: Theory and evidence, ed. D. van de Walle and K. Nead. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M., and Q. Wodon. 2000. Does child labor displace schooling? Evidence on behavioral responses to an enrolment subsidy. Economic Journal 110: C158–C176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M., G. Datt, and S. Chaudhuri. 1993. Does Maharashtra’s employment guarantee scheme guarantee employment? Effects of the 1988 wage increase. EconomicDevelopment and Cultural Change 41: 251–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M., D. van de Walle, and M. Gautam. 1995. Testing a social safety net. Journal of Public Economics 57: 175–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M., E. Galasso, T. Lazo, and E. Philipp. 2005. Do workfare participants recover quickly from retrenchment? Journal of Human Resources 40: 208–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadoulet, E. and A. de Janvry. 2002. Alternative targeting and calibration schemes for educational grants programs: Lessons from PROGRESA. Mimeo. Berkeley: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, T. 2004. School subsidies for the poor: Evaluating the Mexican PROGRESA poverty program. Journal of Development Economics 74: 199–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skoufias, E. 2005. PROGRESA and its impact on the welfare of rural households in Mexico. Research Report No. 139. Washington, DC: International Food Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spagnolo, G. 1999. Social relations and cooperation in organizations. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 38: 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subbarao, K. 1997. Public works as an anti-poverty program: An overview of crosscountry experience. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 79: 678–683.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van de Walle, D. 1998. Targeting revisited. World Bank Research Observer 13: 231–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van de Walle, D. 2004. Testing Vietnam’s public safety net. Journal of Comparative Economics 32: 661–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2001. World development report: Attacking poverty. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2003. Land policies for growth and poverty reduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2004. World development report: Delivering public services to the poor. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2006. World development report: Equity and development. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. http://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5

    Martin Ravallion

Authors
  1. Martin Ravallion
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

    Copyright information

    © 2008 The Author(s)

    About this entry

    Cite this entry

    Ravallion, M. (2008). Poverty Alleviation Programmes. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_1996-1

    Download citation

    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_1996-1

    • Received:

    • Accepted:

    • Published:

    • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

    • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95121-5

    • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

    Publish with us

    Policies and ethics

    Search

    Navigation