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Empirics of the Link between Growth and Poverty

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2000-10
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2012-08-13
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Many people have questioned whether the world's poor share in economic growth. This note synthesizes the empirical evidence. The data show that economic growth typically reduces poverty and can usually be deemed pro-poor. But there is wide divergence across countries. In some cases the poor have gained relatively little from growth; in other cases they have benefited disproportionately. Available data may have weaknesses because most empirical studies of poverty are based on measures of income or consumption. But poverty is a state in which the quality of a person's life falls short of some recognized standard of well-being, and so it requires that additional dimensions be considered.
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Fallon, Peter. 2000. Empirics of the Link between Growth and Poverty. PREM Notes; No. 45. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11420 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
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