This paper examines the extent to which tax and benefit policy changes introduced in the period 2001-11 had a poverty- or inequality-reducing effect. We assess whether the period was indeed a “missed opportunity” for policy changes to make a difference to poverty reduction since the Lisbon...

We review the origins of the dollar-a-day poverty line, discuss historical poverty and inequality trends, and forecast poverty rates until 2030 using a new fractional response approach. Three findings stand out. First, global poverty reduction since 1981 has been rapid but regional trends are...

A partir de estimaciones de crecimiento del gasto per cápita, pobreza y desigualdad para los años 1981, 1993 y 2007, el estudio encuentra que si bien la desigualdad del gasto per cápita entre individuos (medida por los coeficientes de Gini o de Theil) muestra una ligera tendencia a la baja,...

This article describes the main trends in income distribution and poverty in Argentina and discusses their relationship with social protection policies in Argentina and their recent reforms. The aim is to identify paradigms underpinning policy changes that occurred since the last decades of the...

The existing literature on education and poverty considers mostly primary data from an income point of view. However, the benefits of education vary from a direct income effect to positive externalities, which can help reduce poverty. This paper uses panel data for 40 developing countries for...

In the last three decades, revolutionary Iran has experienced large shocks to its political and economic system with likely effects on poverty, inequality, and economic mobility. While poverty has declined, inequality has remained relatively high and stable over nearly four decades. In this...

In Chile, income is distributed on a substantially more equitable basis among younger generations than older generations. There is a greater social mobility and less poverty in the younger generations. The overall trends "are going well," but social policy has not been adapted to this new...

In an article published in Development and Change in 2011, I suggested an alternative measure of inequality to the Gini - a "19th Century statistic" - which has subsequently become known as the ´Palma Ratio'. In this new article, I revisit the argument for such a measure. Using new data, I...

This paper looks at the incidence of fiscal policy on the income distribution for Chile and Mexico. Notably by broadening the income concept to account for in-kind benefits and taxes, this paper provides a full picture of the effect of fiscal policy on reducing income inequality. The contrast...

This paper provides an assessment of how households’ income has fared compared with GDP. While the prime focus is on incomes around the median, attention is paid also to the bottom of the income distribution. Thus, one contribution of the paper is to deliver a fresh assessment of the evolution...