Publication:
Panama - Poverty Assessment : Toward Effective Poverty Reduction

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (2.46 MB)
304 downloads
English Text (602.35 KB)
189 downloads
Date
2007-06
ISSN
Published
2007-06
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The Poverty Assessment for Panama, Toward Effective Poverty Reduction, focuses on: analyzing poverty, inequality, human development, GDP growth and other social indicators in Panama between 1997 and 2003; providing analytical and advisory support to the Government of Panama aimed at implementing a new strategic vision for poverty reduction; and supporting the country in capacity building in poverty diagnostics and policy evaluation. The report concludes that there is a need to develop a clear social protection strategy with specific targets which should drive the process of resource allocation in the sector. Specific policy recommendations are made in the areas of nutrition programs, education, housing, water and energy subsidies, monitoring mechanisms and institutional arrangements.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2007. Panama - Poverty Assessment : Toward Effective Poverty Reduction. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12462 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Panama Poverty Assessment : Translating Growth into Opportunities and Poverty Reduction
    (Washington, DC, 2011-06-30) World Bank
    Panama is one of the richest and fastest growing economies in Latin America; however it is considered a country of stark contrasts and, for some of its citizens, abysmal poverty. Large disparities in extreme poverty, poverty, and in other measures of human development exist among its citizens. This chapter examines the trends in economic growth, inequality and poverty in Panama between 1997 and 2008 at both the national level and by region, ethnicity and gender. It presents characterization of the patterns of consumption growth across the consumption distribution (including whether the growth is 'pro-poor'). Next, it examines the role of internal migration flows in explaining shifts in poverty and extreme poverty between rural and urban areas. Lastly, the chapter begins to analyze the inequality of access to basic opportunities among children using the Human Opportunity Index (HOI). The Human Opportunity Index (HOI) is an operational measure of opportunities that takes into account both coverage and the distribution of access to basic goods and services by children, who cannot be held accountable for pre-determined circumstances at birth such as their race, gender, family income, parents' education level, or place of residence. The study is based on nationally-representative Living Standards Measurement Surveys (LSMS), which were conducted in 1997, 2003 and 2008. The LSMS household questionnaire includes quantitative data on various aspects of living conditions, including household structure, housing, infrastructure, health, nutrition, education and training, economic activity (labor), migration, spending and consumption, income, savings, credit, independent business activities, and agriculture. Since the latest available information is for 2008, the poverty numbers presented here reflect the Panamanian situation after the end of the period of high growth but before the impact of the 2008-09 global financial crises. With this latest dataset, there are now three comparable household surveys that allow for the study of the evolution of poverty in Panama between 1997, 2003, and 2008.
  • Publication
    Bhutan Poverty Assessment 2014
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014) Bhutan National Statistics Bureau; World Bank
    This report identifies the key drivers of rapid poverty reduction in Bhutan over the recent years, explaining why some dzongkhags are stuck in poverty or reducing poverty is not significant while others prospered, and whether female headed households have a harder time reducing poverty. The exercise draws mainly on data from the two rounds of Bhutan Living Standards Survey (2007 and 2012) supplemented with focus group discussions carried out for the report in select dzongkhags. Bhutan's poverty reduction has been rapid, broad-based, and inclusive. Between 2007 and 2012, the percentage of consumption poor halved to 12 percent. Bhutan has nearly ended extreme poverty within the living memory of a generation extreme poverty touched a low of two percent in 2012. Broader multidimensional poverty indices, that include education and health outcomes besides standards of living, also indicate a steep decline in the percentage of deprived population by two-thirds, from about 25 percent to 12.7 percent. Growth in Bhutan helped the previously landless to escape poverty. Education appears to be the most important route by far to escape poverty. This report is a complement to the earlier Poverty Analysis Report 2012 which was prepared with the World Bank's technical support.
  • Publication
    The Kyrgyz Republic : Poverty Update, 2011
    (Washington, DC, 2013-06-21) World Bank
    This report aims to provide an update of the profile of the poor and describe the dynamics of poverty and inequality in the Kyrgyz Republic during 2007-2011. This period was marked by economic and political volatility which adversely impacted the country's capacity to achieve some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The lack of progress in indicators related to maternal and child health and combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases continues to be of concern. However, in comparison to other low-income countries, non-monetary indicators of poverty in the Kyrgyz Republic fare relatively well in such areas as health, education, and access to basic infrastructure services. The report finds that at the micro-level the leading factors associated with poverty are household demographic characteristics. Larger and younger households with relatively fewer income-generating members and more net consumers, such as children, are more prone to poverty. Female-headed households have lower consumption per capita all other things held equal.
  • Publication
    Where Have All the Poor Gone? : Cambodia Poverty Assessment 2013
    (Washington, DC, 2013-11) World Bank
    Over the seven years from 2004 through 2011, Cambodian economic growth was tremendous, ranking amid the best in the world. Moreover, household consumption increased by nearly 40 percent. And this growth was pro-poor, not only reducing inequality, but also proportionally boosting poor people's consumption further and faster than that of the non-poor. As a result, the poverty rate dropped from 52.2 to 20.5 percent, surpassing all expectations. However, the majority of these people escaped poverty only slightly: they remain highly vulnerable, even to small shocks, which could quickly bring them back into poverty. The main drivers of poverty reduction were better prices of rice for farmers, better wages for agricultural workers, increases in salary jobs for the urban labor force, and better income for non-agricultural businesses for rural households. Improvements in health and education, as well as government investment in infrastructure, provided a favorable environment for the poor, allowing many of them to pull themselves out of poverty. Looking forward, some of these drivers of poverty reduction are likely to stall. Coupled with increased vulnerability, the present conditions create new challenges for the Royal Government of Cambodia. Furthermore, most of the improvements in Cambodia originated at very low values, thus leaving much work to better the well-being of many Cambodian households. Outstanding gains have been achieved, but it will take focus and further actions to maintain Cambodia's future growth. Most poverty in Cambodia is found in the countryside: about 90 percent of Cambodia's poor live in rural areas. To generate the maximum impact, government policies should concentrate on the productivity of the rural poor's major assets: their labor and their land.
  • Publication
    Bulgaria : Living Conditions Before and After EU Accession
    (Washington, DC, 2009-09) World Bank
    This report provides estimates of the level poverty and changes in living conditions between 2003 and 2007 in the new European Union (EU) member state Bulgaria. This report fills key gaps in the understanding of the state of welfare in Bulgaria and its future trends. It provides an assessment of changes in living standards since 2003, a period of sustained robust growth and intensive reform efforts leading to successful EU accession, and the current profile of the poor. The report quantifies the level of deprivation and the gains in poverty reduction and overall welfare improvements in different segments of Bulgaria's population. The study aims to support policy discourse on poverty reduction and strengthening of social protection by providing a robust assessment of living conditions among various individual, household, geographic, and socioeconomic groups and of the actual and likely future effectiveness of current poverty reduction policies. The report is organized as follows. Section two examines welfare trends between 2003 and 2007, decomposes changes in poverty, and links poverty outcomes to growth. In section three, the poverty profile is presented based on the results of the 2007 Multitopic Household Survey (MTHS) data. Correlates and determinants of consumption expenditures are presented in section four. Annex A provides a detailed account of the concept of poverty and the methodology used for measuring poverty in this report. Annex B presents supplementary data.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Remarks to the Annual Meetings 2020 Development Committee
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-16) Malpass, David
    David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, announced that the Board approved a fast track approach to emergency health support programs that now covers 111 countries. Most projects are well advanced, with average disbursement upward of 40 percent. The goal is to take broad, fast action early. The operational framework presented back in June has positioned the Bank to help countries address immediate health threats and social and economic impacts and maintain our focus on long-term development. The Bank is making good progress toward the 15-month target of 160 billion dollars in surge financing. Much of it is for the poorest countries and will take the form of grants or low-rate, long-maturity loans. IFC, through the Global Health Platform, will be providing financing to vaccine manufacturers to foster expanded production of COVID-19 vaccines in both part 1 and 2 countries, providing production is reserved for emerging markets. The Development Committee holds a unique place in the international architecture. It is the only global forum in which the Governments of developed countries and the Governments of developing countries, creditor countries and borrower countries, come together to discuss development and the ‘net transfer of resources to developing countries.’ The current International Financial Architecture system is skewed in favor of the rich and creditor countries. It is important that all voices are heard, so Malpass urged the Ministers of developing countries to use their voice and speak their minds today. Malpass urged consideration of how we can build a new approach to debt restructuring that allows for a fair relationship and balance between creditors and debtors. This will be critical in restoring growth in developing countries; and helping reverse the inequality.
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2006
    (Washington, DC, 2005) World Bank
    This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.
  • Publication
    Doing Business 2014 : Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises
    (Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-28) World Bank; International Finance Corporation
    Eleventh in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2014 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2013, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2011
    (World Bank, 2011) World Bank
    The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.