In this paper we use a CGE macro-micro modelling approach to analyse the distributional impact of the food crisis and to examine a couple of policy responses in two neighbouring West African countries. Both countries are strongly dependent on agriculture; both have similar climates and share many...

The human development index (HDI) is a measure of development published annually by the UNDP. This index allows countries’ development to be assessed on the basis of three indicators that measure the health, education, and standard of living of the population. The UNDP also computes a human...

This paper proposes a methodology for testing for whether tax reforms are pro-poor. This is done by extending stochastic dominance techniques to help identify tax reforms that will necessarily be deemed absolutely or relatively pro-poor by a wide spectrum of poverty analysts. The statistical...

This paper examines multidimensional stochastic dominance when one of the indicators of well-being, such as household size or place of residence, is qualitative. It also uses a test for strict dominance based on the empirical likelihood ratio. Empirical applications are based on the DHS...

A biofuels race has been observed around the world with rising cost of oil and the increasing concerns over climate change. Unfortunately, this growth is associated with rising food prices, which is a major concern in developing countries like Mali. The development of biofuels in Mali should...

We show in this paper that the growth rate of the Sen index is multi-decomposable, that is, decomposable simultaneously by groups and income sources. The multi-decomposition of the poverty growth yields respectively: the growth rate of the poverty incidence (poverty rate) decomposed by groups,...

Afin de disposer des ressources publiques nécessaires à son développement, le Niger étudie la possibilité d’élargir l’assiette fiscale de la TVA aux biens exonérés et aux biens d’alimentations de base. Cette proposition a provoqué des oppositions violentes conduisant à poser la...

The evaluation of development processes and of public policies often involves comparisons of social states that differ in income distributions, population sizes and life longevity. This may require social evaluation principles to be sensitive to the quality, the quantity and the duration of...

Despite high growth rates in recent decades, Burkina Faso is still a poor country. The government acknowledges the need for a stronger commitment to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly regarding the reduction of poverty. At the same time, the Burkinabe budget deficit has...

In order to have the public funds necessary for its development, Niger is examining the possibility of expanding its VAT tax base to exempted goods and basic food products. This proposal has prompted violent opposition leading to the question of the social impacts of taxation. The first...