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...

Medicinal plants are commonly used in treating and preventing specific ailments and diseases and are considered to play a beneficial role in health care. Despite their importance, medicinal plants are seldom handled within an organized, regulated sector; most are still exploited with little or...

This report consists of a collection of essays on extreme poverty. The first part of the report deals with what it means to live in extreme poverty, how to reach the very poor, through programs, and interventions, and how to make private, and public institutions more responsive to their...

The present review explores ways of meeting these developmental challenges. It focuses on efforts that address the intersecting health, nutrition, and early education needs of children up to six years old in their institutional and socio-cultural environments. The paper also reviews current...

The quantitative and qualitative approaches to poverty measurement and analysis have often been treated by practitioners as two distinct--even opposing--approaches. This paper highlights the key characteristics of the two approaches, examines the strengths and weaknesses of each, and analyzes...

Alternative institutions, most notably non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have evolved in many countries in response to the shortcomings of the state and the market in providing various social developments inputs and credit to the poor. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) was...

Cities and towns are increasingly becoming the primary locus of poverty in many countries. Rural-urban migration and low urban mortality rates have contributed to the rapid population growth of cities in many parts of the world. With such rapid growth comes an increasing concentration of poverty...

This manual explains the planning process, technical procedures, and standards used in Living Standard Measurement Study (LSMS) household surveys, including what these procedures entail, why they are used, and how they can be implemented.

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.