Data on occupational choice among return migrants in Tunisia reveal that higher inequality of wealth reduces the level of new business activity. The effect is not large, however. Even dramatic redistributions of wealth would not provide much stimulus to entrepreneurship

Development practitioners are coming to a consensus that participation by the intended beneficiaries improves project performance. But is there convincing evidence that this is true? Skeptics have three objections: 1) quot;Participation is not objective -- project rankings are subjective; 2) this...

The theory and evidence supporting a relativist approach to poverty measurement are critically reviewed. Various sources of welfare interdependence are identified, including the idea of "relative deprivation" as well other (positive and negative) welfare effects for poor people of belonging to a...

December 1997 - In rural China, those in the poorest wealth decile are the least well-insured, with 40 percent of an income shock being passed on to current consumption. By contrast, consumption by the richest third of households is protected from almost 90 percent of an income shock. Jalan and...