We apply a standard tax and benefit incidence analysis to estimate the impact on inequality and poverty of direct taxes, indirect taxes and subsidies, and social spending (cash and food transfers and in-kind transfers in education and health). The extent of inequality reduction induced by direct...

This working paper: (i) briefly reviews possible causes of the food price spike that began in mid-2010; (ii) examines recent local food price movements in 58 developing countries during 2010; (iii) discusses the adverse impacts of food price increases on households; (iv) presents a rapid desk review of...

This is a discussion paper prepared for Expert Group Meeting on resource mobilization for poverty eradication in the Least Developed Countries which was held in New York from 19-20 January 2004.

This report was prepared by Ms. Suchitra Punyaratabandhu, a member of the Committee for Development Policy, as a background paper for deliberations by the Committee at its sixth session (29 March-2 April 2004) on how to evaluate progress towards good governance in the context of the...

This paper discusses the conceptual and operational problems associated with the social audit of a government scheme. It argues that social audits have not performed well in the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme because of three problems. First, conceptually, it has been unable...

Welfare-to-work measures are a central theme of Israel’s labour and social policies to tackle relative poverty, which is concentrated among the Arab-Israeli and Ultra-orthodox (Haredi) communities. Policies include pilot programmes involving private-sector job placement (the “Wisconsin”...

This paper shows the differences between how benefits are estimated and how they are distributed, calls attention to the policy variables that are crucial in explaining certain distributional outcomes, explores the importance of looking at the demand for characteristics when trying to benefit...

This paper reviews two common definitions of poverty targeted projects, discusses the limitations of poverty targeting classifications, calls for a poverty focused cost-benefit analysis that looks at the main policy constraints affecting the distribution of project benefits, and argues for...