Publication: On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities
Date
2004-02
ISSN
Published
2004-02
Author(s)
Abstract
Important differences exist between
communities with respect to their needs, capacities, and
circumstances. As 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. However, household and
individual characteristics within communities can also vary
substantially. A growing theoretical literature suggests
that inequality within communities can influence policy
outcomes, and that this influence could be harmful or
helpful, depending on the circumstances. Empirical
investigations into the impact of inequality have, to date,
largely been held back by a lack of systematic evidence on
community-level inequality. The authors use household survey
and population census data to estimate per capita
consumption inequality within communities in three
developing countries: Ecuador, Madagascar, and Mozambique.
Communities are found to vary markedly from one another in
terms of the degree of inequality they exhibit. The authors
also show that there should be no presumption that
inequality is less severe in poor communities. They argue
that the kind of community-level inequality estimates
generated in this paper can be used in designing and
evaluating decentralized antipoverty programs.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Elbers, Chris; Lanjouw, Peter F.; Mistiaen, Johan; Özler, Berk; Simler, Ken. 2004. On the Unequal Inequality of Poor Communities. Policy Research Working Paper;No.3313. © World Bank, Washington, D.C.. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14016 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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