The paper explores attitudes to chronic poverty in a cross‐section of developed and developing countries based on data from the World Values Survey Wave Three (1994‐1998). The analysis finds a consistent belief among a majority of respondents that poverty is chronic. This paper also explores...

A considerable and growing literature exists on social transfers in developing countries, that is, direct transfers in cash or kind to individuals or households in poverty. Many studies have examined the contribution social transfers can make to reducing poverty and vulnerability in 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...

This paper examines the main factors behind the strong decline in poverty experienced in Kazakhstan. Specifically, it examines the contribution of growth and redistribution to household consumption and to poverty indicators in Kazakhstan for the period 2001-2009. The analysis relies on estimates...

The paper examines the recent reforms of health insurance in Chile and Argentina. These partially replace social health insurance with individual insurance administered through the private sector. In Chile, reforms in the early 1980s allowed private health insurance funds to compete for...