It is well established in the literature that, on average, economic growth is associated with reductions in income poverty. However, evidence suggests that some countries see a much faster decline in poverty with the same level of growth in income. The objective of this paper is to analyse the...

There has been much discussion and debate on the kind of institutions and policies that could best address poverty and vulnerability in developing countries. Financing has emerged as a key constraint on the extension of social protection. The paper considers the main sources, and key...

It has been argued that the adverse impact of skilled versus unskilled labor migration can be mitigated or even offset by the fact that skilled migrants remit more than unskilled ones. This paper contributes to a much debated and so far unresolved issue, namely whether remittances increase or...

The AEL (aid effectiveness literature) is econometric studies of the macroeconomic effects of development aid. It contains about 100 papers of which 68 are reduced form estimates of the effect of aid on growth in the recipient country. The raw data show that growth is unconnected to aid, but the...

Food aid stands at a crossroads today. Major policy decisions will be made in the coming year as to the direction food aid will follow for the next decade or more. NGO leaders need to decide soon how to engage these debates. If the NGOs fail to step forward on these imminent, major decisions,...

We measure the effect of governance on sovereign creditworthiness, as measured by sovereign credit ratings. Governance may affect the government's ability to raise tax revenue to service its debt, with poor enough governance leading to insolvency. Data for 1996-2005 indicate that countries with...

Human rights has become a global issue. This is due, in large part, to the increasing number of organizations around the globe focusing on this critical issue and the availability of technologies that are creating new pathways of communication and connectedness that are drawing attention to this...