This paper explores the impact of six non-communicable chronic diseases (NCCDs) on the decision to retire among men and women aged 45-85 in Jamaica using the 1991 and 1992 Survey of Living Conditions data base.

The appropriate role of the state in health is complex both in economic theory and in practice. Theory identifies three reasons for state action: public goods or services with large externalities (involving efficiency); poverty (involving equity); and failings peculiar to insurance markets for...

Households in developing countries adopt livelihood strategies that often rely on income from a diversity of sources. From a policy perspective it therefore becomes important to understand the relative importance of income sources in driving inter-household inequality and poverty.

This study uses the Viet Nam Living Standards Survey of 1992-93 to examine the association between household living standards and the level of access to various infrastructural services.

The alleviation of poverty has been the prime objective of small-scale targeted credit programs such as the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Based on household survey data, this paper concludes that these programs can play an important role in both lesing poverty and sustaining household welfare on a...

A poverty line helps focus the attention of governments and civil society on the living conditions of the poor. In practice, there is typically not one monetary poverty line but many, reflecting the fact that poverty lines serve two distinct role. One role is to determine what the minimum level...

This paper is concerned with the derivation of a welfare indicator for households from consumption data. It examines, illustrating with reference to data for ecuador, several of the steps involved in contructing consumption aggregates and highlights some of the principles which should guide the...

Though Vietnam has made impressive progress in providing widespread access to basic social services, the quantity and quality of the country's social service provision have shown signs of deterioration within the last two decades. This paper examines the changing role of the public sector in...

This discussion paper constructs a consistent, nationwide poverty profile of Cambodia to support the government's effort to strengthen the design of poverty reduction policies. Basic data are given on the level and distribution of living standards as measured by per capita household consumption...

In this paper we attempt to answer three questions. Using conventional indicators as a guide what are Bangladesh's prospects in sharply accelerating growth? What lessons can be derived from the experience of East Asian countries especially with repect to nonfarm development? Can these lessons be...