Is India's Economic Growth Leaving the Poor Behind?

Is India's Economic Growth Leaving the Poor Behind?

There has been much debate about how much India's poor have shared in the economic growth unleashed by economic reforms in the 1990s. The authors argue that India has probably maintained its 1980s rate of poverty reduction in the 1990s. Howeve...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Datt, Gaurav, Ravallion, Martin
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, D.C. 2013
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE POVERTY ABSOLUTE TERMS AGRICULTURAL GROWTH AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT AGRICULTURAL PERFORMANCE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR ANNUAL GROWTH ANNUAL GROWTH RATE ANNUAL RATE AVERAGE CONSUMPTION BASIC EDUCATION CASE STUDY CONSUMPTION DATA CONSUMPTION GROWTH CONSUMPTION MODULE CONSUMPTION MODULES COST OF LIVING COUNTRY REGRESSIONS CRISES DATA SOURCES DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY MEASURES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT STUDIES DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECT DURABLE GOODS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES ECONOMIC REFORM ECONOMIC REFORMS ECONOMICS EFFECTIVE STRATEGY ELASTICITIES EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ERROR TERM ESTIMATION METHOD EXCHANGE RATE EXPENDITURE SURVEY EXPLANATORY VARIABLES FINANCIAL SERVICES FIXED EFFECTS FOOD CONSUMPTION FOOD EXPENDITURES GROWTH ELASTICITY GROWTH PROCESS GROWTH RATES HEADCOUNT INDEX HIGH GROWTH HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN RESOURCE INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME SHARE INEQUALITY INFANT MORTALITY INFLATION INFLATION RATE INTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINE LABOR MARKET LAGGED VALUES LIBERALIZATION LIVING STANDARDS LOW FARM PRODUCTIVITY MACROECONOMIC REFORMS MEAN CONSUMPTION MEAN EXPENDITURE MEASURING POVERTY MICRO DATA NATIONAL ACCOUNTS NATIONAL POVERTY NET NATIONAL PRODUCT 0 HYPOTHESIS POLICY ENVIRONMENT POLICY ISSUES POLICY RESEARCH POOR PERFORMANCE POPULATION GROWTH POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY LEVEL POVERTY LINE POVERTY LINES POVERTY MEASURE POVERTY MONITORING POVERTY RATE POVERTY REDUCING POVERTY REDUCTION PRICE INDEXES PRIVATE CONSUMPTION PRO-POOR PRO-POOR GROWTH PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY REDUCING POVERTY RELATIVE PRICES RURAL AREAS RURAL POPULATION RURAL POVERTY SAMPLE SURVEYS SECTORAL COMPOSITION SHARP REDUCTION THEORETICAL MODELS UNDERDEVELOPMENT UNEMPLOYMENT UNSKILLED LABOR URBAN AREAS URBAN POVERTY URBANIZATION WAGES ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC IMPACT GEOGRAPHIC BALANCE POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT RURAL DEVELOPMENT HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/05/1796878/indias-economic-growth-leaving-poor-behind http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14798

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Summary:	There has been much debate about how much India's poor have shared in the economic growth unleashed by economic reforms in the 1990s. The authors argue that India has probably maintained its 1980s rate of poverty reduction in the 1990s. However, there is considerable diversity in performance across states. This holds some important clues for understanding why economic growth has not done more for India's poor. India's economic growth in the 1990s has not been occurring in the states where it would have the most impact on poverty nationally. If not for the sectoral and geographic imbalance of growth, the national rate of growth would have generated a rate of poverty reduction that was double India's historical trend rate. States with relatively low levels of initial rural development and human capital development were not well-suited to reduce poverty in response to economic growth. The study's results are consistent with the view that achieving higher aggregate economic growth is only one element of an effective strategy for poverty reduction in India. The sectoral and geographic composition of growth is also important, as is the need to redress existing inequalities in human resource development and between rural and urban areas.