Poverty targeting programs can in principle be assessed as projects using the tools of either cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness analysis. In practice where quantitative assessments have been made they are principally a form of cost-effectiveness calculations based on costs per unit of benefit...

Despite the extensive spread of micro finance, studies on the actual impact of MFIs are often more ambivalent about its impact than is the aid community. Much has been written on the range of institutional arrangements pursued in different organizations and countries and in turn a vast number...

It is widely recognized that while high and sustained economic growth is critical for poverty reduction, there are other policy interventions that may also be significant in a "growth plus" approach to poverty reduction. This volume brings together a series of case studies on the poverty impact...