On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities

Communities differ in important ways in their needs, capacities, and circumstances. Because central governments are not able to discern these differences fully, they seek to achieve their policy objectives by relying on decentralized mechanisms tha...

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Main Authors:	Elbers, Chris, Lanjouw, Peter F., Mistiaen, Johan A., Özler, Berk, Simler, Ken
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank 2013
Subjects:	inequality poverty poor communities
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/09/17747618/unequal-inequality-poor-communities http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16434

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recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-164342021-04-23T14:03:29Z On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities Elbers, Chris Lanjouw, Peter F. Mistiaen, Johan A. Özler, Berk Simler, Ken inequality poverty poor communities Communities differ in important ways in their needs, capacities, and circumstances. Because central governments are not able to discern these differences fully, they seek to achieve their policy objectives by relying on decentralized mechanisms that use local information. Household and individual characteristics within communities can also vary substantially. A growing body of theoretical literature suggests that inequality within communities can influence policy outcomes in ways that are either harmful or helpful, depending on the circumstances. Until recently, empirical investigations into the impact of inequality have been held back by a lack of systematic evidence on community-level inequality. This study uses household survey and population census data to estimate per capita consumption inequality within communities in three developing economies. It finds that communities vary markedly in their degree of inequality. It also shows that there should be no presumption that inequality is less severe in poor communities. The kind of community-level inequality estimates generated here can be used in designing and evaluating decentralized antipoverty programs. 2013-12-20T20:23:02Z 2013-12-20T20:23:02Z 2004-09-01 Journal Article http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/09/17747618/unequal-inequality-poor-communities World Bank Economic Review doi:10.1093/wber/lhh046 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16434 English en_US CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank Publications & Research :: Journal Article Publications & Research :: Journal Article
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English en_US
topic	inequality poverty poor communities
spellingShingle	inequality poverty poor communities Elbers, Chris Lanjouw, Peter F. Mistiaen, Johan A. Özler, Berk Simler, Ken On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities
description	Communities differ in important ways in their needs, capacities, and circumstances. Because central governments are not able to discern these differences fully, they seek to achieve their policy objectives by relying on decentralized mechanisms that use local information. Household and individual characteristics within communities can also vary substantially. A growing body of theoretical literature suggests that inequality within communities can influence policy outcomes in ways that are either harmful or helpful, depending on the circumstances. Until recently, empirical investigations into the impact of inequality have been held back by a lack of systematic evidence on community-level inequality. This study uses household survey and population census data to estimate per capita consumption inequality within communities in three developing economies. It finds that communities vary markedly in their degree of inequality. It also shows that there should be no presumption that inequality is less severe in poor communities. The kind of community-level inequality estimates generated here can be used in designing and evaluating decentralized antipoverty programs.
format	Journal Article
author	Elbers, Chris Lanjouw, Peter F. Mistiaen, Johan A. Özler, Berk Simler, Ken
author_facet	Elbers, Chris Lanjouw, Peter F. Mistiaen, Johan A. Özler, Berk Simler, Ken
author_sort	Elbers, Chris
title	On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities
title_short	On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities
title_full	On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities
title_fullStr	On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities
title_full_unstemmed	On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities
title_sort	on the unequal inequality of poor communities
publisher	World Bank
publishDate	2013
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/09/17747618/unequal-inequality-poor-communities http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16434
_version_	1764433291076698112

On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities

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