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This paper focuses on the vulnerability of rural households to poverty when a negative crop shock occurs. The analysis is based on the ICRISAT panel survey of households in a semi-arid region in south India during 1975-84. Using a dynamic panel data model that takes into account effects of crop shocks, an assessment of vulnerability of different groups of households is carried out. What is somewhat surprising is that even sections of relatively affluent households are highly vulnerable to long spells of poverty when severe crop shocks occur. As such crop shocks are frequent in a harsh production environment, there must be a shift of emphasis in anti-poverty measures from meeting income shortfalls among the poor to enabling the vulnerable to protect themselves better against these shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One important area of development that needs urgent attention in developing countries is poverty alleviation. Urban poverty in India, as in some other countries, is a spillover of rural poverty and about 65% of the labour force is still working in the agricultural sector. To that extent, this paper, though it does not provide a numerical magnitude of poverty per se, advocates policies directly targeting the agricultural sector to reduce poverty. The policy conclusion is that promoting investment and technological progress, along with efficient use of technology in agriculture, are central to reducing poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is world-wide agreement on poverty reduction as an overriding goal of development policy, there is little agreement on the definition of poverty. Four approaches to the definition and measurement of poverty are reviewed in this paper: the monetary, capability, social exclusion and participatory approaches. The theoretical underpinnings of the various measures and problems of operationalizing them are pointed out. It is argued that each is a construction of reality, involving numerous judgements, which are often not transparent. The different methods have different implications for policy, and also, to the extent that they point to different people as being poor, for targeting. Empirical work in Peru and India shows that there is significant lack of overlap between the methods with, for example, nearly half the population identified as in poverty according to monetary poverty but not in capability poverty, and conversely. This confirms similar findings elsewhere. Hence, the definition of poverty does matter for poverty eradication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the many indicators of child welfare, rates of child and infant mortality and the prevalance of child labour are especially important, particularly in the context of developing countries. This paper estimates and simulates a model of child welfare based on recently released data for the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The results show that some policies, like raising female literacy rates or reducing inequality in land holdings, could have unexpected effects, while the effects of other policies, like reducing poverty or improving infrastructure, are more predictable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]