social policy better reduces poverty than social policies targeted at the poor. This article revisits Korpi and Palme … average share of household income from welfare transfers), low-income targeting, and universalism - and poverty and … developed and developing countries. Consistent with Korpi and Palme, we show (1) poverty is negatively associated with transfer …

, is a factor slowing down poverty reduction. But it can also result in slower poverty reduction for a given average rate … of growth, due to poverty traps, often examined at the microeconomic level. Testing a model of poverty change on a panel … of data for more than 80 countries from 1981 to 2005, we find that income instability results in a lower poverty …