Publication:
The Growth Elasticity of Poverty: Is Africa Any Different ?

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dc.contributor.authorWu, Haoyu
dc.contributor.authorAtamanov, Aziz
dc.contributor.authorBundervoet, Tom
dc.contributor.authorPaci, Pierella
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-05T16:56:33Z
dc.date.available2024-02-05T16:56:33Z
dc.date.issued2024-02-01
dc.description.abstractOn current trends, the future of global poverty reduction will be determined by Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet even during Sub-Saharan Africa’s period of high economic growth — roughly corresponding to the first decade and a half of the 2000s — the extent to which this growth translated into improved living standards for African households was hotly debated. This paper revisits the issue of Sub-Saharan Africa’s relatively low growth elasticity of poverty using a sample of 575 successive and comparable growth spells between 1981 and 2021. The findings confirm that, even controlling for initial differences in poverty, income levels, and inequality, Sub-Saharan Africa consistently had a significantly lower growth elasticity of poverty relative to other regions over this period. The lower growth elasticity of poverty, which has remained unchanged over time, is due to a lower passthrough between growth in gross domestic product per capita (or growth in household final consumption expenditure as measured by national accounts) and growth in household consumption expenditures as measured from surveys. Given the low passthrough of economic growth to households, Africa thus needs higher rates of economic growth than its peer countries in other regions to achieve equal rates of poverty reduction. Given the challenge of achieving this in the current global economic environment, success in reducing global poverty will require a focused effort to strengthen the effect of aggregate economic growth on household welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results suggest that this will require (i) improved provision of basic education services and basic infrastructure, (ii) faster structural transformation, and (iii) a decrease in the occurrence and persistence of violent conflicts.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099312502012418681/IDU1e36a6afa14bb414e6c192e61c45a54f4b453
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10690
dc.identifier.urihttps://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/40997
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherWashington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPolicy Research Working Paper; 10690
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subjectGLOBAL POVERTY REDUCTION
dc.subjectGROWTH ELASTICITY
dc.subjectGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT PER CAPITA
dc.subjectAGGREGATE ECONOMIC GROWTH
dc.titleThe Growth Elasticity of Povertyen
dc.title.subtitleIs Africa Any Different ?en
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleThe Growth Elasticity of Poverty: Is Africa Any Different ?
okr.date.disclosure2024-02-01
okr.date.lastmodified2024-02-01T00:00:00Zen
okr.doctypePolicy Research Working Paper
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099312502012418681/IDU1e36a6afa14bb414e6c192e61c45a54f4b453
okr.guid099312502012418681
okr.identifier.docmidIDU-e36a6afa-4bb4-4e6c-92e6-c45a54f4b453
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/1813-9450-10690
okr.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-10690
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum34249700
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum34249700
okr.identifier.reportWPS10690
okr.import.id3062
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099312502012418681/pdf/IDU1e36a6afa14bb414e6c192e61c45a54f4b453.pdfen
okr.region.geographicalAfrica
okr.sectorSocial Protection
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Poverty Reduction Strategies
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Achieving Shared Growth
okr.unitEFI-AFR1-POV-Poverty and Equity (EAEPV)
okr.volume
relation.isAuthorOfPublication7d2cdd35-5782-55f1-ada1-6de5d1a8bac2
relation.isAuthorOfPublication4d16fb05-6b86-5273-88d5-b11c3ecb1c5f
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery7d2cdd35-5782-55f1-ada1-6de5d1a8bac2
relation.isSeriesOfPublication26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87
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