We must diversify and compare results from our methods of assessment, as well as broaden our definition of well-being, to see how public spending policies affect various facets of living standards. An important objective of public spending is to raise household living standards, particularly for...

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...

"The idea that developing countries face a trade-off between poverty and inequality has had considerable influence on thinking about development policy. The experience of developing countries in the 1990s does not, however, reveal any sign of a systematic trade-off between measures of absolute...