The paper proposes a new welfare-based measure to evaluate the distributive effects of public programs. The proposed measure differs from traditional approaches in two important ways: first, it is based on life-cycle considerations, since most public expenditure programs have an intertemporal...

This paper on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers on Guinea explains medium-term development framework to achieve Millennium Development Goals and fulfill the authorities’ vision of Guinea as an emerging economy in 15 to 25 years, respectful of human rights and gender equality and...

This paper identifies the countries that meet the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative's income and indebtedness eligibility criteria based on end-2004 data. It also updates the status of these countries toward qualifying for debt relief and presents cost estimates of debt...

There has been a growing awareness of the income distribution dimension of macroeconomic policies. This paper presents a framework for studying this issue empirically, and considers the case of the Philippines using data available from integrated surveys of households. After developing and...

This paper examines developments in Albania’s income distribution and poverty during the transition to a market-oriented economy. It pays particular attention to the impact of price liberalization on the agricultural terms of trade and production, the decline in state enterprise employment,...