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Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are a central instrument in international development cooperation and of key importance in guiding donors' policies towards southern recipients. However, many aspects of the PRSP have been criticised by a variety of development stakeholders. A checklist of 85 questions has been developed to analyse the inclusion of aspects of sustainable development in PRSPs and to point to sustainability challenges and opportunities. It thus facilitates targeted advice and quality improvements. The checklist was applied to a selection of 12 PRSPs of developing countries. The results reveal an insufficient integration of the ecosystem services concept, of biodiversity and of climate issues. Property rights, gender issues, water and energy are as a rule well elaborated. PRSPs show significant variation in the integration of environmental sustainability issues. Sustainability assessments can contribute to significant improvements between first and second generation PRSPs provided the assessments are supported by a strong institutional framework and a dedicated political commitment towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the impact of technological progress and digitization on Ghana's economy using panel data for the period 2009–2019. Technological progress and economic growth inter-dependency was analyzed in two steps. First, the relation was tested using Augmented Dickey–Fuller method. Second, we estimated the long-run relation between the variables by using Engel Granger and Error Correction models. The results indicate that adopting technology or digitizing the economy has the potential to drive sustainable growth and development. In particular, it was noted that ICT investments drive high productivity rates and faster economic growth. In sum, technological progress and digitization have the potential to foster significant growth and therefore must be given high credence in the planning and designing of development programmes. This paper contributes to development theories on the role that ICT plays in economic growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between female labour force participation (FLFP) and economic development is far more complex than it is often described in academic literature. Most studies have relied on income as the only proxy for development. In this paper, we re-examine this relationship from a multidimensional perspective. A principal component analysis method was used in order to cluster the information contained in multiple development indicators. The analysed data include the following dimensions: access to basic services, environment, inequality, poverty, education, economic structure, health, income and FLFP. The results provide evidence about the existence of a U-shaped relationship between development and FLFP. Least and most developed countries have the highest levels of FLFP and, conversely, countries with intermediate levels of development have the lowest. We observed that MENA and South Asian countries present a lower FLFP in relation to what is expected for their level of development. Our estimates suggest that FLFP is also affected by social, cultural and legal norms. Thus, greater freedom to travel or work as well as the existence of laws that criminalize workplace harassment promote FLFP. This suggests that differences in FLFP are explained by economics and non-economic factors and policy makers should explicitly consider this multidimensionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a systematic assessment of the alleged exceptionality of Malaysia's development progress and its likely explanations, in comparative perspective. Using cross-country regressions and aggregate indices of education, health, poverty and gender equality outcomes, we produce evidence based on conditional correlations, offering three findings. First, the results support the hypothesis that Malaysia's human development progress has been exceptional compared with that of countries with a similar level of economic development, primarily for the period 1970–1990. Next, we show that such progress is associated with a combination of income-mediated and support-led mechanisms, including Malaysia's early emphasis on education and health inputs and infrastructure development. Finally, we look at long-term roots of its progress, arguing that early advantage in state capacity may be at the origin of Malaysia's successful implementation of poverty reduction and growth-enhancing policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article calls for submissions of papers from people working in the field of urban studies and associated disciplines and practice. It cites the areas of focus of the journal which include studies of the inter-dynamics between cities and their surroundings, urban policy developments at European national, regional and local levels and comparative studies of urban issues and urban policy in European countries. It also calls for papers on urban issues such as employment, poverty and uneven economic development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major learning about the social and economic losses that an external shock to the system can cause. In this paper, we examine some sustainability issues focusing on three key focal points of sustainable development – economic growth, poverty and inequality in the context of climate change. We focus on the inter-relationship between economic growth, investment, labour force participation, energy consumption, poverty and inequality under alternative scenarios using the global framing of Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs). An econometric model is used for estimating the relationship between GDP and its determinants along with fitting a General Quadratic and/or Beta Lorenz curve using the World Bank's Povcal software for determining the relationship between income, poverty and inequality. Alternative GDP growth paths, redistribution assumptions and poverty lines are used for simulations which reveal the extent of sensitivity of the developmental targets to scenarios up to 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a comparative review is provided of the quality of EIA systems in 65 countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Furthermore, whether the quality of EIA systems is correlated with national GDP per capita in each country is explored. The review is carried out by means of an integrated EIA index (EIA Quality index – EQI). In developing the EQI, views and perceptions of experts were considered, based on Multi-Criteria-Decision-Analysis (MCDA). Results of the comparative evaluation indicate that there is great disparity between EIA systems in the 65 countries. Countries with existing challenges, such as poverty, civil war and institutional instability tend to achieve lower EQI scores. Finally, a positive (albeit weak) correlation is found between EQI scores and GDP per capita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper highlights the complex relationship between development and language and argues that poverty as a condition of underdevelopment is materialized in representation. Instead of limiting the scope of the topic to the rhetorical aspects of development thought, it is proposed that development language produces a specific reality of poverty while writing about it. Using a post-structuralist framework and drawing from various Planning Commission reports on poverty lines, the paper goes on to implicate these reports in the production of authoritative knowledge and the elision of the poor. Through the identification of the cut-off line, which distinguishes the poor from the non-poor, these reports control our ways of knowing and suspend our ability to imagine poverty in any non-institutional manner. Such representation not only omits poor’s everyday experience and converts poverty as experience to poverty as knowledge, but also predicates its objectivity on such elision. The paper also highlights the slippages and contradictions in these reports, and shows how in the seeming inevitability of poverty knowledge, people find innovative ways to appropriate and disrupt it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of race and class in post-industrial economic decline and revitalization in a predominantly white town in the northeastern United States. Ethnographic research in this small town revealed that residents commonly identified lazy, welfare-dependent substance abusers as the source of local problems. At the same time, they lauded workers, drawing on a national white hard worker mythology. Poor and underemployed workers themselves thus negotiated between the problem people and white worker ideals. I argue that the white worker myth provides a symbolic escape hatch, which reinforces hegemonic whiteness and the US racial order despite the lack of material payoff for economically marginalised white workers. As such, I call for a shift away from measuring degrees of white privilege towards an analysis of how people in various classed and gendered positions mobilise or contribute to white power differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development is inextricably related to the state-centred cartography of world spaces defined by borders, both in its historical trajectory and contemporary entanglements. Yet the multiplicity of channels and directions characterising their articulation are scarcely explored. This article contributes to this emerging field of enquiry. It delineates the essential traits of theborders and development nexusby establishing a systematic dialogue between the fields of Border Studies and Development Studies, a dialogue framed by concerns with scalar politics. More specifically, the paper places borders in development in two ways. First, it places borders in Development Studies: it identifies borders as a useful analytical vantage point that lay at the intersection between state- and non-state centred geographies of development. Second, it places Border Studies in development: focusing on the tension between borders and bordering processes, it interrogates economic growth- and poverty-related policies. Three contributions to the study of development arising from placing borders in development in this way are highlighted. The paper also expands the emerging field of enquiry concerned with the relation between borders and development, by considering development policies not yet been examined through the prism of borders, and by emphasising the hierarchical and yet unpredictable nature of the borders and development articulation. At its broadest, the discussion dis-entangles the multiplicity of scales and directions in which borders, bordering and the development process intersect. It is at this scalar intersection that the force of development, and the potentials for engaging, opposing, avoiding, or subverting it, lay. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to assess the World Bank’s social risk management approach to poverty by focusing on the implementation details of the Social Risk Mitigation Project in Turkey, a World Bank project that depends on this approach. The paper looks at the approach through the concept of neoliberal governmentality, as an attempt to produce responsible poor citizens during a period when the responsibility for providing social services is transferred to the market and the family. By using field research it demonstrates that, with the intervention of local factors, several unintended consequences emerge in the implementation of a social risk management project. The article concludes that these outcomes, although not planned or intended, have all been instrumental in depoliticising poverty and the poor in the country. Moreover, in spite of all the problems and dissatisfaction, thanks to the Bank’s own portrayal, this project has contributed to the image of the Bank as a development institution that achieves successes in its fight with poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ‘Great Foreign Aid Debate’ raged in the 2000s yet there are few overviews of it. This paper builds on heuristic classifications of the debate not to simply classify it, but rather to explore how it is perhaps not as ‘great’ as claimed and, in fact, is contributing to a narrowing of thinking about development possibilities. The paper explores the debate through the books released in the 10 years from 2001 that made both an academic and a media impact. It analyses what gets discussed and why and, equally importantly, what does not get discussed. In terms of what is missing, the paper posits that ‘left’ has disappeared and the progressive critique and support for aid has been left to scholars like Jeffrey Sachs and Jonathan Glennie. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article aims to provide knowledge and practical guidance to managing and implementing within the framework of endogenous development. The paper gives a theoretical overview of endogenous development, linked to issues of globalisation and poverty, and ongoing work among European institutions and academics that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development approaches. It then makes a case for a paradigm shift – an African alternative to modernisation and development, namely endogenous development – using experiences with two NGOs in Ghana and Zimbabwe to locate theory in practice. The paper concludes with some empirical pre-requisites for conducting endogenous development with rural communities.This article is prompted by the requests of my students at the University for Development Studies, Ghana, for knowledge and information, and practical guidance to managing and implementing within the framework of endogenous development. I start by giving a theoretical overview of the concept of endogenous development and link it with current issues of globalisation and poverty. I briefly mention current work among European institutions and academics that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development approaches. Encouraged by such developments, I then make a case for a paradigm shift – an African alternative to modernisation and development, endogenous development. I bring to light the experiences with endogenous development in two NGOs – CECIK (Ghana) and AZTREC (Zimbabwe) – in order to locate theory in practice (praxis). I conclude by providing some empirical prerequisites for conducting endogenous development with rural communities, which demonstrate one way of conducting experimentation with farmers within the context of endogenous development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian story of miraculous growth and poverty reduction has reinforced mainstream views of development that equate high and sustained economic growth with progress in human wellbeing. But understanding development only in terms of economic growth is not sufficient. This paper offers a different perspective on possible effects of Laos’s transition from a subsistence-oriented economy to a market-oriented economy. We used a multidimensional poverty approach with panel data for the years between 2003 and 2013. Findings suggest that benefits were not equally distributed: 50 per cent of people moved in and out of poverty, and the other half was either non-poor (37%) or always poor (13%). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Debate on what should follow the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from 2015 onwards has mushroomed. A focus on “ending” poverty (however defined) is likely to form a central part of the future framework. This paper discusses MDG 1, income poverty. Our paper is a commentary written to contribute to the set of papers in this special issue. In this paper we argue that there are, alongside valid rationales, important critiques of the targets and indicators selected for the income poverty goal from both the human development and human rights perspectives. These should be taken into account more fully in the debate on what should follow MDG 1 on income poverty reduction (and the implicit hierarchy of placing income poverty as the “first-among-equals” goal). We review the institutional history of the MDG income target along with the critiques, and present data trends to date and projections with regard to income poverty, as well as discussions on the relationship between and relevance of nationally set versus internationally set poverty lines and their use in any post-2015 UN agreement. We argue for the importance of national ownership and the incorporation of context-specific measures of poverty, and that any new poverty goals should be designed with political mobilization as a consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burma's first well known welfare plan was entitled Pyidawtha or Happy Land, and it was launched in 1952. In vernacular terms, the literal meaning of Pyidawtha is 'Prosperous Royal Country'. The government's attempt to sustain tradition and culture and to instil modern aspirations in its citizens was reflected in its choice of the word Pyidawtha. The Plan failed and its implications still overshadow the development framework of Burma. This paper discusses how the country's major decisions, including whether or not to join the Commonwealth, have been influenced by language; how the term and concept of 'development' were conceived; how the Burmese translation was coined to attract public support; and how the detailed planning was presented to the masses by the government. The paper also discusses the concerns and anxieties of the democratic government led by U Nu in introducing Burma's first major development plan to a war-torn and bitterly divided country, and why it eventually failed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of a person's group identity and sense of integration into society as a determinant of the person's productivity and capability has been vastly underestimated in the literature. We talk of policies to subsidize the poor and give direct support to alleviate poverty. These are important but, in the long run, it is critical that we instill in people a sense of belonging and having certain basic rights as citizens. This paper tries to advance this perspective by building a new model where a person's community identity matters,ex post, in determining whether he or she will be poor, even though all persons are identicalex ante. The paper also draws on data collected from a non-governmental organization-run school in Kolkata to illustrate the role of a school child's sense of ‘belonging’ in determining how the child performs academically. The theory and the empirical work are inputs into the larger and more general idea that when people feel marginalized in a society they tend to ‘give up’. A substantial part of the paper is devoted to the policy implications of these analytical ideas and empirical results in the context of policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds a critical geography of poverty finance with recourse to a relational comparison of the microfinance and subprime mortgage markets. It probes paradoxical claims about the nature of poverty, the poor, states and markets that have surfaced in the aftermath of the financial crisis. In doing so it aims to generate new understandings of neoliberal global finance with specific emphasis on 1) the social constitution of risk through racialised and gendered forms of difference; 2) the exercise of dispossession and imperialism by financial means; and 3) articulations of poverty finance with the social relations of debt in specific conjunctures. Each of these terrains of inquiry forms a subsection of the paper, following a preliminary section that poses the animating paradox in more detail. The paper concludes with some reflections on the conditions of possibility for democratising finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the protection of natural resources is managed in Madagascar in order to understand how and why tourism development is part of the strategy to safeguard these resources. Based on a heterodox political economy approach and using documentary analysis as well as exploratory interviews, this paper focuseson the specific case ofRanomafana National Park showing how the environment, economic growth and poverty alleviation strategies are instrumental to a ‘development framework’ that envisions the rural poor population as a problem as well as a solution with respect to resource depletion. The analysis concluded that tourism is far from being an ‘axis of development’ for the Malagasy economy, and, thus, an insufficient alternative to address the destructive practices described in this paper. The case study shows that ecotourism creates few work opportunities for local people and does not absorb the job seekers who rapidly revert to survival techniques and anarchic use of resources, thereby threatening the integrity of the forest and the long-term survival of ecotourism activities. In this context, the place of tourism in general and of ecotourism, in particular, appears to have been highly exaggerated in Madagascar as the direct economic benefits of tourism at the local level remain minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The conventional wisdom is that rapid economic growth is driven by investment. Paying particular attention to the state of gross fixed capital formation (gfcf), poverty and institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, this paper investigates the effect of gfcf on poverty and explores whether the gfcf and poverty relationship can be strengthened by institutions. Using the panel data-set of 41 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1981–2010 and dynamic two-step system generalised method of moment estimator, it is found that gfcf reduces poverty and institutions reinforce the gfcf and poverty link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following article investigates the state of Mozambique's political economy 20 years after the end of its civil war between FRELIMO and RENAMO, in 1992. This paper is written from the theoretical perspectives of growing criticism of the neo-liberal assumptions that underlie development policy and places the analysis of Mozambique's economic growth and development within the field of development studies as they are played out in African realities. Mozambique is viewed by the donor community and multilateral institutions as a success story of postwar construction, yet a closer look at the development outcomes in Mozambique calls this conclusion into question. The paper found that, despite improvements in reducing the number of people living in poverty between 1992 and 2012, hunger persists and malnutrition and diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis are on the increase. The author concludes that global governance reforms that take cognisance of Mozambique's and indeed Africa's governance challenges are needed to forge a development paradigm relevant for Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews experience in advancing Human Development (HD) since 1970 by investigating behaviour among countries that made the largest improvement in HD and those that made the least improvement. The paper provides evidence on a range of indicators for the three best (and worst) performers among high, medium and low HD countries. It identifies alternative combinations of variables associated with success and failure. It then reviews performance on a range of other dimensions of Human Development, including political rights, gender empowerment, societal stability and environmental sustainability and shows these are only weakly associated with performance on the Human Development Index (HDI). To illuminate historical, political and institutional factors associated with success and failure, the performance of six countries (four successful and two weak performers) are briefly reviewed—Bangladesh, Chile, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos and Zambia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-Taliban Afghanistan faces a wide range of complex issues. These include deep rural poverty and degraded and over-exploited natural resources. The international community and the Government of Afghanistan must mobilise resources to tackle the poverty and enhance the status of natural resources. The paper argues that, despite some recent significant improvements on strategy and policy formulation, natural resource management is not yet far advanced towards the MDG goals. The paper offers an analysis of matters with recommendations for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the implications for poverty measurement of the observed fact that any individual's level of deprivation is a function not only of his own income, but of the general level of prosperity of the group to which he is affiliated. Individual deprivation functions are specialized to a form that reflects this 'group-affiliation' externality, and the resulting poverty measure is studied with respect to its properties, and its implications for poverty rankings. Mainstream approaches to measuring deprivation tend to neglect group-related externalities in favour of a certain thorough-going 'individualism'. This paper is a preliminary attempt at filling this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an assessment of the mainstreaming of fisheries in national development plans and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers within the Asia-Pacific region. Fisheries and aquaculture in the region make a significant contribution to world fisheries production. Importantly, those directly involved in the sector are predominantly small-scale artisanal producers, a group traditionally regarded as extremely vulnerable in poverty terms. Therefore, mainstreaming - integrating a sector into every stage of the national policy process - may have important welfare implications for those drawing livelihoods from the industry. This paper examines the significance of fisheries and aquaculture to developing Asia-Pacific economies, and evaluates the extent to which the sector has been mainstreamed in national development and poverty reduction strategies using a content analysis framework. We conclude that the representation of fisheries issues, the recognition of sectoral poverty, policy responses, and stakeholder representation, is typically greater than in other fish producing regions, and there are many examples of best practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the popularity of the concept of sustainable development, there is growing evidence that, globally, human enterprise is becoming less sustainable rather than more. This paper examines this concept and the difficulty of linking it with environmental concerns. Developing countries emphasise economic growth and the eradication of poverty as prerequisites for sustainable development, but despite national strategies and programmes, implementation, especially in Africa, remains weak and fraught with problems. Focusing on national strategies for sustainable development in Zimbabwe, this paper highlights the fragmented and sectoral approach that results in low impact. Agenda 21 as a blueprint for sustainable development underestimates the complexities of diverse situations on the ground and the political and socio-economic realities of development that are in constant flux. Sustainable development initiatives fail to successfully integrate development with environmental concerns, poverty is not adequately addressed, and conservation is regarded as merely an income-generating luxury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses econometric estimates of the link between aid and economic growth to ask how much additional aid is required to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving global poverty by 2015, and how this aid should be allocated across countries. It first shows that a large increase in existing aid levels can be justified to halve $1-a-day poverty by 2015, on a country-by-country basis, under the econometric estimates obtained by Hansen & Tarp (2001, Journal of Development Economics, 64, pp. 547-570) and Lensink & White (2001, Journal of Development Studies, 37, pp. 42-65), but not those of Collier & Dollar (2002, European Economic Review, 46, pp. 1475-1500). The paper then shows that, even where an increase in existing aid levels can be justified, a much larger number of people - up to around 70 million - could be lifted out of poverty by 2015 if aid was instead allocated on a poverty-efficient basis. This cautions against the use of a country-by-country target approach when allocating aid across recipient countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies claim that mineral resources impact negatively on economic growth particularly in developing countries. This paper briefly reviews this argument (the natural resources curse hypothesis) and subjects it to examination. The paper argues that poor performance is not an inherent characteristic of minerals‐driven economies. It considers mineral endowments a capital that can spur growth and reduce poverty in developing countries if deployed under appropriate conditions. The paper identifies the benefit streams of mining and the challenges for their equitable creation, investment, distribution and management. It articulates the conditions, success factors and strategies to maximizing the contribution of the minerals sector to growth and development in Africa. The entry points include creating a conducive and competitive policy, legal and regulatory environment and frameworks for business development; improving governance and management systems anchored on strong and capable institutions; opening up opportunities including capitalizing on the low entry barriers offered by artisanal and small‐scale mining; sharpening investment decisions; including the minerals sector in poverty reduction strategies and other national development plans; promoting linkages between the minerals sector and other sectors of the economy; empowering communities; establishing coalitions of change; and facilitating knowledge and competencies creation for more local processing and value addition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russian government aims to halve poverty in Russia within the next ten years. The role of this paper is to explore why this very ambitious target is not just concerned with macro-economic growth. It argues that the way the state conceptualises, and quantifies, poverty will provide significant barriers to its objectives. To explore this, drawing on qualitative research conducted in three Russian cities, the paper explores how the state defines poverty before critically examining how political 'elites' view 'the poor'. It is argues that without a radical rethinking of these discourses significant poverty reduction will prove very difficult to achieve. This enables discussions on how marginalized individuals mediate these discourses and how they impact on their interactions with the state. The final sections of the paper explore these issues through the lens of the current welfare reforms that the federal government planned to introduce in January 2005. It is argued that rather than reducing poverty these reforms will instead increase everyday uncertainty among the marginalized and will impact negatively on their existing coping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fast-moving world of development policy, buzzwords play an important part in framing solutions. Today's development orthodoxies are captured in a seductive mix of such words, among which ‘participation’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘poverty reduction’ take a prominent place. This paper takes a critical look at how these three terms have come to be used in international development policy, exploring how different configurations of words frame and justify particular kinds of development interventions. It analyses their use in the context of two contemporary development policy instruments, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (prsps) and the Millennium Development Goals (mdgs). We show how words that once spoke of politics and power have come to be reconfigured in the service of today's one-size-fits-all development recipes, spun into an apoliticised form that everyone can agree with. As such, we contend, their use in development policy may offer little hope of the world free of poverty that they are used to evoke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has used the Albania Living Standards Measurement Survey (ALSMS) of 2002 to contribute to a currently limited empirical literature on the demographic profile of Albanian migration. The primary purpose of our analysis is to examine the factors associated with whether an individual has considered migration abroad or not. Our results suggest that migration in Albania is related to poverty but in more subtle ways than usually hypothesized. First, it seems that outside of Tirana and in rural areas, it is the relatively better off who have considered migrating abroad. This may reflect lower opportunities for the better educated in these areas, or that migration costs are higher in these areas and therefore prohibit the relatively poor from considering migration, or that the poorer households have less developed networks abroad, or some combination of all of the above. Secondly, when we consider individuals already living in urban areas or in the Tirana region, we find that it is the less well off who are more likely to consider migrating abroad (although this is not a statistically robust result for urban areas). This result could be taken to suggest either that migration costs are substantially lower for potential migrants in urban areas or in the Tirana region, no longer precluding the relatively poor from migrating, or that the employment opportunities available for the less well off are seen as inferior to those that are assumed to exist abroad. The better off in Tirana and in other urban areas, facing an economic environment that has undergone significant change in a relatively short period of time, may not see any advantage in migrating abroad, and may therefore decide that staying at home is a superior option. This has subtle and nuanced policy implications, particularly as far as potential brain drain is concerned. To the extent that skills and living standards are positively correlated with each other, our results suggest a possible brain drain from rural areas and from areas outside of Tirana. This has interesting implications for spatial inequality trends, with the gap between Tirana and elsewhere, and between urban and rural areas, likely to rise. We also find that significant differences exist between men and women, between those of different ages and with different education levels, between different types of labour-force statuses, and between individuals from households with children of different ages. Some of these estimated differences are very striking, and all proved to be well determined in a statistical sense. Further work is under way to examine the causal relationships between considering migration and these factors; this requires using more sophisticated econometric methods. In addition, we are also keen to explore the factors that affect whether an individual has attempted to migrate, rather than merely having considered migration; the ALSMS provides information that will enable us to investigate this. However, we believe that the current paper provides some new insights and enhances our understanding of the relationship between migration and household welfare in Albania. In particular our research suggests that broad-based economic growth may result in greater migration to Tirana and to other urban areas, resulting in an even greater strain on the social and physical infrastructure in Tirana and on its local labour market. This may then, of course, act to create incentives to encourage external migration from Tirana to other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addressing operational challenges such as poverty or economic development, many researchers and practitioners wish to build upon insights raised by Sen's capability approach and related writings. This paper argues that the comprehensive reach and foundation of the human development and capability approach has a value independent from and additional to their practical outworkings, and yet also that operational specifications are both possible and vital to the further development of the approach. The paper begins with a thumbnail sketch of the core concepts of the capability approach, and supplements these with additional informational and principle requirements that Sen argues to be necessary for a more complete assessment of a state of affairs. It traces some important avenues along which the Human Development Reports and other empirical studies have operationalized certain aspects of Sen's capability approach. The paper then articulates further developments that might be expected, arguing that such developments must also build upon cutting edge research in other fields. It also identifies certain 'value judgments' that are inherent to the capability approach and should not be permanently dismissed by some methodological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses cross-national data to investigate the extent to which the adoption of human development strategies has resulted in a reduction of poverty in Africa. Inter-country variations in income and human poverty reinforce the established patterns of well-being within the continent, as countries in Northern and Southern Africa have the lowest levels of poverty. The empirical analysis reveals that inter- country differences in poverty levels can be accounted for by variables indicative of the different facets of human development. These include public expenditure on education, primary school enrolment, female educational enrolment, expenditure on health, and good governance. Other significant variables apart from those pertaining to human development are economic growth, high external debt, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the geographical disadvantage of being a landlocked country. The paper also shows that foreign aid has had a limited effect on poverty reduction in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the Philippines seems to be on track towards achieving some Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), subnational disparities exist indicating possible patterns of isolation or discrimination. This paper examines whether and how geographical and political economy factors help to explain these disparities, focusing specifically on the MDG targets most closely related to the Human Development Index: poverty incidence, per capita income, infant mortality and primary education completion rates. The paper shows that climate, topography and other spatial factors affect the pace of communities with respect to human development targets. In addition, history and institutions also play a role: provinces characterized by ongoing social-political or socio-cultural conflicts with the state, or those governed by local political dynasties, are lagging on most outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews Mexico's mixed track record in pursuing the Millennium Development Goals, with progress in health and education but a seemingly entrenched problem of poverty. Given that the country is one of the most equal in Latin America, the paper goes on to disaggregate the data and analysis to subgroups or regions. Regional disparities are stark in terms of education and infrastructure, as well as in poverty, with a NorthSouth divide in the country and indigenous groups worst off in terms of poverty, illiteracy levels, gender equity and basic infrastructure. Nevertheless, there are positive trends based on an assessment that shows slow but steady convergence across three variables, life expectancy, education enrollment and literacy rates. The paper recommends focus on vulnerable subgroups and regions learning from successful national programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the European Union's commitment to environmentally sound development in the south, with particular reference to the 'Least Developed Countries'.There is a demonstrable causal link between poverty and environmental degradation and, consequently, these issues represent two sides of the same coin. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that economic growth can have a positive impact on poverty-related environmental degradation. If this is indeed the case, then the Community's 'Everything But Arms' initiative, launched in 2001 with the aim of bolstering sustainable economic growth in some of the world's poorest countries, should result in positive environmental outcomes for these countries. However, the paper will argue that not only will this initiative not encourage significant economic growth but, furthermore, it may well prove an impediment to meaningful sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects critically on issues of North-South collaboration and participatory research arising from a project on participatory and sustainable local-level environmental management in the peri-urban area surrounding Kumasi, Ghana. Rapid immigration, uncoordinated conversion of farmland to housing, intensified resource exploitation, and declining water quality and availability are particularly pressing problems there. Collaborative research arrangements with local partners as well as sustained participatory relations with selected village communities were central to this project. More generally, the paper reflects on institutional issues relating to the dichotomy between research and development assistance projects, and their implications for project evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that there are many contrary pulls, some old, and others new, operating on socioeconomic development in the South Asian region. It argues that September 11th, 2001 has been a defining and defiling moment for the region, since the consequences of the terrorist attacks on the US will weaken democracy in the subcontinent. Consequently, the region will lose its historical advantage of not being militarised by outside poles, or interests, and this will undermine democratic mechanisms that facilitate alleviation of poverty and inequality. This paper investigates the disjunction between mainstream and grassroots perceptions of India's poverty, arguing that localised democratic government, attention to the institutional architecture of countries, and enabling participation of the poor and the discriminated offer the only way to deal with economic and social inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV/AIDS is the major threat to development, economic growth and poverty alleviation in much of Africa. And yet the full extent of the catastrophe facing the continent is only just being recognized, and still not by all. The international development targets set by the great and the good of the global community--or at least by those members of the community who attend the international summits that set these goals--do not consider what HIV/AIDS means and are unachievable. This paper begins by setting the scene, describing the epidemic, explaining why it is so important and what makes HIV/AIDS different. It then explores how the poverty/epidemic cycle works, whereby poverty increases the spread of HIV and AIDS increases poverty. It suggests we need to look beyond monetary poverty to understand these relationships. Finally the paper assesses what can and should be done to break the HIV/AIDS poverty cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty alleviation remains a pressing concern for South African policy-makers. Implementing effective anti-poverty policies requires a clear understanding of the nature and extent of poverty. The extant literature on South African poverty dynamics shows a decline in the headcount ratio over the first decade of the twenty-first century. However, the prior research largely adopts a narrow money-metric approach, or uses multi-dimensional indices that include welfare indicators based on private assets (e.g. television sets) or those that are provided publicly (e.g. access to water). This paper uses multiple correspondence analysis to measure non-income poverty trends for the period 2005–12. The novelty in this undertaking lies in an attempt to include a measure of the perceived quality of public assets and services to complement the standard indices. This provides some measure of ‘success’ of public service delivery, accounting for both changes in access and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It has become a platitude in the academic marketplace that the world has recently become more democratic. Yet the world is also increasingly divided between rich and poor. Of the more than 30 countries that have seen some sort of transition away from authoritarianism since 1974, 29 had a 1976 per capita GNP under $3,000 (p 62). That is, what has been called a global democratic revolution has taken place primarily in developing countries still badly afflicted by poverty and inequality. The purpose of this paper is to explore some recent attempts to theorise about the relationship between economic underdevelopment and democracy, and how democracy can be consolidated, in the developing world. The paper divides recent writings into three types and discusses each in turn: neo-modernisation theory, economistic approaches, and analyses of civil society. It then briefly discusses the problems of consolidating democracy in north-east Brazil, the largest region of poverty in the western hemisphere, in light of the previous theoretical discussion. The conclusion offers an overall assessment of the theoretical approaches and a summary of the problem underdevelopment poses for democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the majority of poor people now living in middle-income countries and the postmillennium development goals framework taking shape, the issue of inequality has gained prominence in many policy debates. Although detailed assessments of poverty and well-being are crucial for formulating adequate policies, all too often such assessments focus on average outcomes. In this paper we present an analysis of child well-being for Kazakhstan that moves beyond averages in two ways: first, it explicitly reports on the situations of different socioeconomic groups of children in society; second, it applies a method that is diversified by age group and thereby accounts for differences among children across stages of childhood. Kazakhstan illustrates the need for more nuanced and in-depth analyses, given the significant but far from universal economic growth within the country. We find that there are large discrepancies in child well-being outcomes between different regions and that high levels of economic output do not necessarily go hand in hand with improved outcomes in terms of poverty and well-being. We argue that child well-being studies need to be more in depth, thereby ensuring that levels of inequity across socioeconomic groups and between children in different age groups are given due consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the effect of co-operative membership on people's capability to participate in household decision-making and on domestic gender relations. Our hypothesis is that the democratisation process activated in genuine co-operatives, authentic member-owned forms of business, may then be transferred to the household. We tested this in the “Coppalj” co-operative in Brazil, where we collected primary data. Both the techniques employed, regression and propensity score matching, support our hypotheses in a number of life domains. Though results vary slightly according to the domain and the outcome indicator, they show that members of the co-operative have a statistically significant higher capability to participate in decision-making and to share their decisions with partners than non-members (the control group). We then triangulated these quantitative outcomes with qualitative ones: the latter confirm an improvement in gender relations between co-operators and their partners, highlighting the fundamental role of Coppalj in fostering gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the observed impact of past economic downturns on human development indicators in 29 countries of the region. We estimate empirical elasticities of key human development indicators covering demographics, crime, epidemiology, unemployment, and poverty with respect to changes in per-capita purchase power parity (PPP) gross domestic product. Based on published gross domestic product growth projections from the IMF, we then project the likely impact on the human development indicators in coming years for the countries in the region. The results suggest that the adverse impact of past downturn in income on poverty, public health, mortality, and suicide and homicide rates is likely to be considerable, long-lasting, and to affect the poorest disproportionately. Based on our results, we argue that policy-makers will need better and more timely data to provide the evidence base for policies; and that those policies need to take into account the looming substantial backslide in human development indicators stemming from the global economic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses some determinants of urban violence in seven major Colombian cities. The empirical research is intended to explore variations in violence across these Colombian cities and the influence of these variations on Colombia's economic development. In this study, several econometric data panel models and various estimate types are applied to control heterogeneity across the cities and to address endogeneity problems among the explanatory variables. The results show that education, poverty, inequality and the labour market are strong predictors of homicide rates in the seven Colombian cities. The results also demonstrate that city-level homicide rates depend on the city's level of development and the tendency of urban violence to persist over time. The findings thus demonstrate that factors such as inequality, poverty, education and the labour market influence urban violence, thereby generating negative effects on Colombia's economic and social development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is well known that whilst wetlands deliver a wide range of services vital for human well-being, they are being rapidly degraded and lost. Losses tend to be higher where human populations are increasing most and demands for economic development are greatest. Multidisciplinary management approaches that integrate conservation and development objectives in wetlands are therefore urgently requested for by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. This paper describes the evaluation of 10 wetland management case studies from Asia, Africa and South America that adopted such an integrated approach. The evaluation assessed the outcomes of these integrated initiatives to identify conditions and processes for linking conservation and poverty reduction objectives in wetlands. The findings are also compared with other assessments of integrated approaches, particularly in terms of their effectiveness in optimizing conservation and poverty reduction outcomes. The results from our studies suggest an ongoing evolution of such integrated interventions, which also implies cycles of learning from past mistakes. Overall, our results highlight the significant variation between wetlands in types and quantities of services they provide and emphasize the need to view many ecological issues as social challenges for equitable solutions to both wetlands and people. The analysis further shows that the positive on-ground results owe much to the interdisciplinary problem analysis, whereby interventions can move from treating symptoms to addressing root causes. while no blueprint emerged on how to successfully integrate conservation and poverty reduction in wetlands, important lessons for future interventions were drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last four decades, the Indonesian state has effectively combined rapid economic growth with significant reductions in poverty, i.e. pro-poor growth. This paper argues that the effective reduction of poverty resulted from rapid agricultural growth. This in turn was the result of a strategy of development involving significant agricultural investment. It will be argued that the ruling elite chose this path because it was dependent on agriculture for its political survival and a backlog of agricultural technology was readily available. Without the latter, Indonesia would likely have followed an extractive strategy with respect to agriculture (similar to Africa). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technical and vocational skills development (TVSD) has received pronounced emphasis in planning and policy texts in Pakistan over the last decade. Several positive outcomes are typically ascribed to TVSD, ranging from purely economic (increased productivity, competitiveness and economic growth) to social (improved employment, poverty-reduction and socio-political stability). However, the relationship between TVSD and poverty-reduction is neither simple nor automatic. This paper reviews evidence from the country to establish the linkages between formal education, TVSD and poverty. Issues of access to different skills and employment systems are explored. Moreover, the role of environmental factors such as quality of education and training, macroeconomic situation, and access to credit, business development and re-training services in mediating labour market outcomes is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the relation between trade and development when poverty affects individual decision making. We develop a two-sector model that links production and schooling decisions under poverty with standard neo-classical trade analyses. The decision to either work or acquire skills depends on households having reached subsistence levels of income, implying that the income level of a country becomes important in establishing comparative advantages and trade patterns. Trade liberalisation is always allocative efficient, but its timing is important for the speed by which countries industrialise. Our analysis supports the idea that there are instances that stalling trade liberalisation may serve industrial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviewing a recent annual cycle of public fundraising and advocacy messages of international development NGOs (INGOs), this paper examines how gendered representations are used to portray specific notions of global poverty, development, gendered identities, the majority world and its relation to the developed world. The gendering of global poverty and development is realised though many contradictory discursive strategies, including feminisation which, inter alia, naturalises the majority world, distinctive characterisations of people and issues, and binary oppositions of women from the developed and majority worlds. Through both her instrumental and symbolic value, the 'Third World woman' serves INGOs by simultaneously projecting 'universal' values of motherhood and womanhood and special values of 'Third World difference'. These representations have significance across Northern audiences' understandings of gender and global inequalities and INGOs' objectives of poverty alleviation, women's empowerment and rights-based development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]