This paper introduces cash transfers targeting the poor in an incomplete markets model with heterogeneous agents facing idiosyncratic risk. These transfers change the degree of insurance in the economy and affect precautionary motives asymmetrically, leading the poorest households to decrease...

While household well-being derives from long-term average rates of consumption, welfare comparisons typically rely on shorter-duration survey measurements. We develop a new strategy to identify the distribution of these long-term rates by leveraging a large-scale randomization in Iraq that...

This paper reports a computable general equilibrium analysis that explores the consequences of the 1994-1995 increase in the international price of coffee for Uganda's economy. Evidence is found for a small effect on both medium-term growth and poverty reduction. Aid dependence is among the...

Zimbabwe has been in macroeconomic doldrums for a long time with the struggle still persisting. To date no single economic indicator points to the stability path, hence calling for proper policy stance to be adopted. For the current year, 2020, a world pandemic has emerged with possible serious...

This paper develops an Index of Economic Well-being (IEWB) for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, Norway and Sweden for the period 1980 to 2001 which recognizes four components: Current effective per capita consumption flows; Net societal accumulation of stocks of...

In this chapter, Lars Osberg and Andrew Sharpe provide an overview of trends in a number of dimensions of economic well-being (consumption flows, stocks of wealth, income equality, and economic security) from the lens of the Index of Economic Well-being, a new composite measure of economic...

We study the effect of endogenous time preference in a simple neo-classical model of growth. The variation of time preference causes the economy to have multiple steady states, some of which are similar to poverty traps. The stability properties of these steady states are analyzed. The results...

The year 2015 is the "finish line" for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). What should the post-2015 goals look like for Africa? The goal of ending extreme poverty remains paramount. Globally, the World Bank has set goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to promote shared prosperity in...

With the year 2015 - the MDG finishing line - approaching, post-2015 goals as they impact Africa need to be firmed. The goal of ending extreme poverty remains paramount. Globally, the World Bank set goals to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to promote shared prosperity in every society. We...

The degree of choice households have over their consumption expenditure is critical in deciding their economic class. Applying our measure to Egyptian household budget surveys, we estimate the population size of the middle class in Egypt and assess their well-being in the period 1995-2011. Our...