Inequality is Bad for the Poor

It has been argued that inequality should be of little concern in poor countries on the grounds that (1) absolute poverty in terms of consumption (or income) is the overriding issue in poor countries, and (2) the only thing that really matters to reducing absolute income poverty is the rate of econo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Ravallion, Martin
Format:	Publications & Research
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE POVERTY ABSOLUTE VALUE ADVERSE IMPACT AGGREGATE GROWTH AGGREGATE OUTPUT AGRICULTURAL GROWTH ANNUAL GROWTH ANNUAL GROWTH RATE ANNUAL RATE AVERAGE INCOME AVERAGE INEQUALITY BALANCED GROWTH CAPITAL MARKET CAPITAL MARKET FAILURES CHANGING INCOME DISTRIBUTION CONSUMPTION GROWTH COUNTRY LEVEL CREDIT MARKET CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISONS CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION DATA ISSUES DATA SETS DATA SOURCES DENSITY FUNCTION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPING WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS DEVELOPMENT REPORT DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT STUDIES DISTRIBUTIONAL DATA DISTRIBUTIONAL TERM ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC CONTRACTION ECONOMIC GROWTH EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIP EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION EXTERNALITIES EXTREME POVERTY FINANCIAL CRISIS GINI INDEX GROWING ECONOMY GROWTH COMPONENT GROWTH ELASTICITY GROWTH EPISODES GROWTH INCIDENCE GROWTH PROCESS GROWTH PROSPECTS GROWTH RATES HEADCOUNT INDEX HIGH GROWTH HIGH INEQUALITY HIGH INEQUALITY COUNTRIES HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS INCOME DISPARITIES INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME GROWTH INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME POVERTY INEQUALITY CHANGES INEQUALITY FALLS INEQUALITY INDEX INEQUALITY MEASURE INEQUALITY MEASURES INEQUALITY WILL INFLATION LIVING STANDARDS LOCAL LEVEL LOG GINI LOW INEQUALITY MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY MARKET ECONOMY MARKET FAILURES MEAN CONSUMPTION MEAN GROWTH MEAN INCOME MEAN INCOMES MEASUREMENT ERROR MEASUREMENT ERRORS MORAL HAZARD NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PER CAPITA INCOME POINT DECLINE POLICY CHANGES POLICY MAKERS POLICY REFORMS POLICY RESEARCH POOR AREAS POOR COUNTRIES POOR PEOPLE POSITIVE CORRELATION POVERTY ANALYSIS POVERTY GAP POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY LINE POVERTY MEASURES POVERTY RATE POVERTY RATES POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY RISES POVERTY-REDUCING IMPACT PRIVATE CONSUMPTION PRIVATE PRODUCTION PRO-POOR PRO-POOR GROWTH PROPORTIONATE CHANGES PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY RAPID GROWTH REAL TERMS REDUCED INEQUALITY REDUCING INEQUALITY REDUCING POVERTY REGIONAL DISPARITIES RELATIVE INEQUALITY RELATIVE POVERTY RELATIVE PRICES RESEARCH FINDINGS RISING INEQUALITY RURAL AREAS RURAL POVERTY SECTORAL COMPOSITION SERIAL CORRELATION SHARP REDUCTION SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION SOCIAL SERVICES TRADE REGIME URBAN AREAS WEALTH
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/08/6200517/inequality-bad-poor http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8625

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Summary:	It has been argued that inequality should be of little concern in poor countries on the grounds that (1) absolute poverty in terms of consumption (or income) is the overriding issue in poor countries, and (2) the only thing that really matters to reducing absolute income poverty is the rate of economic growth. The author takes (1) as given but questions (2). He argues that there are a number of ways in which the extent of inequality in a society, and how it evolves over time, influences the extent of poverty today and the prospects for rapid poverty reduction in the future.

Inequality is Bad for the Poor

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