A large body of literature suggests that consumers derive utility from gains and losses relative to a reference point. This paper shows that such reference dependence can affect savings in opposite directions depending on whether people face liquidity constraints. Existing models for wealth and...

Egypt has a large food subsidy program that has created a relatively effective social safety net, but it has also drained budgetary resources and proved to be poorly targeted toward the poor. Discussions about reforming the system to improve its effectiveness have run into extreme political...

This paper reviews design features by which safety nets might do more with less. It reviews the current evidence on their success in practice–including three brief reviews of southern Africa experience–and suggests a role for future policy research in furthering the goal of designing safety...

Many of the challenges facing children now are a function of the changing times, including increases in urbanization, political violence, changing family forms, and, in some a cases, decreased supplies of adequate food. This paper reviews the evolving nature of these risks. In addition, the...

"A simple dynamic panel model is used to capture persistence in poverty. This simple model allows a more accurate derivation of the permanent level of the measure of well-being from which persistent poverty is defined. Using a longitudinal dataset from the United States of America, the results...

The debate over the impact of regional trade agreements (RTAs) on world welfare hinges upon (1) whether they are net trade creating or trade diverting and (2) whether they impede multilateral trade liberalization. Theoretical models are ambiguous on these issues. We summarize the insights from...

The Atlas of African Agriculture Research & Development is a multifaceted resource that high­lights the ubiquitous nature of smallholder agriculture in Africa; the many factors shaping the location, nature, and performance of agricultural enterprises; and the strong interde­pendencies among...

The second of three books in IFPRI's climate change in Africa series, East African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis examines the food security threats facing 10 of the countries that make up east and central Africa - Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Kenya,...

L Indice Globale della Fame 2013 (GHI), relativo ai dati del periodo 2008-2012, mostra che la fame mondiale e diminuita di un terzo rispetto al 1990. Nonostante i progressi, il livello della fame nel mondo rimane "grave", con 870 milioni di persone a soffrirne, secondo le stime...

The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI), which reflects data from the period 2008 to 2012, shows that global hunger has improved since 1990, falling by one-third. Despite the progress made, the level of hunger in the world remains serious, with 870 million people going hungry, according to estimates...