As recent discussions have made clear, the apparent lack of poverty reduction in the face of historically high rates of economic growth-both in the world as a whole and in specific countries (most notably India)-provides fuel for the argument that economic growth does little to reduce poverty....

As recent discussions have made clear, the apparent lack of poverty reduction in the face of historically high rates of economic growth-both in the world as a whole and in specific countries (most notably India)-provides fuel for the argument that economic growth does little to reduce poverty....

Obtaining consistent estimates on poverty over time as well as monitoring poverty trends on a timely basis is a priority concern for policy makers. However, these objectives are not readily achieved in practice when household consumption data are neither frequently collected, nor constructed...

The World Bank prepares and publishes estimates of the number of poor people in the world. These numbers, particularly the count of people living below $1 a day, are widely quoted and used by the Bank, the press, and by political leaders around the world. They are the raw material in the debate...

This paper uses two comparable data sets from South Africa to examine the effect of household characteristics on poverty and living standards and how they have changed over the five years following the dismantling of apartheid. I find that while things have started showing signs of improvement,...