The concept of 'Pro-Poor Growth' has received wide currency in recent years. It has been provided with extra legitimacy with the UNDP Human Development Report 2005's special focus on its relevance to policies for poverty reduction. The International Poverty Centre of the UNDP at Brasilia has...

We shed light on the function, properties and optimal size of austerity using the standard sovereign debt model augmented to include incomplete information about credit risk. Austerity is defined as the shortfall of consumption from the level desired by a country and supported by its repayment...