Inequality in Middle Income Countries
Sunday, 29. July 2007, 10:40:08
Andy McKay, Tim Conway, Ed Anderson, Joy Moncrieffe, Laure-Hélène Piron and Tammie O'Neil, with Simon Maxwell
Poverty and Public Policy Group
Overseas Development Institute, UK
Country case studies addressing growth, inequality and poverty reduction in Brazil, China and South Africa, were presented at the project workshop held in London on 4-5 December 2003. Fitting within an overall project approach based on a conceptual paper on inequality in Middle Income Countries (MICs) prepared by ODI, the findings formed the basis for an overall synthesis report and briefing note also prepared by ODI and feeding into ongoing DFID discussions on inequality and their Middle Income Country Strategy. The workshop also involved presentations from other leading agencies and researchers working on inequality.
Prepared as part of a DFID-funded project seeking to increase understanding of the links between growth, inequality and poverty reduction in MICSs, the Concept and Synthesis papers prepared by ODI survey the key conceptual issues relating to the understanding of inequality, and policy responses to it.
The motivation for the overall project is that Middle Income Countries account for substantial absolute levels of global poverty and deprivation despite the fact that their average income levels are higher compared to Low Income Countries. This reflects high levels of inequality in many cases. Such high (and sometimes increasing) levels of inequalities threaten to be a major barrier to the attainment of the MDGs in Middle Income Countries, as well as globally. They also represent important risks to social stability and progress, as well as being unjust in their own right to the extent that they reflect widespread social exclusion and discrimination. In other words, the focus on inequality in this project is both for instrumental reasons (its likely impact on poverty reduction, growth rates and social stability) and for intrinsic reasons (high levels of inequality being undesirable in and of themselves).
The project focussed on both economic and non-economic aspects of inequality, recognising that the latter (social, political and governance dimensions) are currently less well understood.
For this work programme, briefing papers (downloadable below) on inequality previously prepared by ODI for DFID also provide relevant background by reviewing issues in relation to (i) concepts and measurement of inequality; (ii) the economic links between inequality, poverty reduction and growth; and (iii) policy issues in responding to inequality.
Read more...
Poverty and Public Policy Group
Overseas Development Institute, UK
Country case studies addressing growth, inequality and poverty reduction in Brazil, China and South Africa, were presented at the project workshop held in London on 4-5 December 2003. Fitting within an overall project approach based on a conceptual paper on inequality in Middle Income Countries (MICs) prepared by ODI, the findings formed the basis for an overall synthesis report and briefing note also prepared by ODI and feeding into ongoing DFID discussions on inequality and their Middle Income Country Strategy. The workshop also involved presentations from other leading agencies and researchers working on inequality.
Prepared as part of a DFID-funded project seeking to increase understanding of the links between growth, inequality and poverty reduction in MICSs, the Concept and Synthesis papers prepared by ODI survey the key conceptual issues relating to the understanding of inequality, and policy responses to it.
The motivation for the overall project is that Middle Income Countries account for substantial absolute levels of global poverty and deprivation despite the fact that their average income levels are higher compared to Low Income Countries. This reflects high levels of inequality in many cases. Such high (and sometimes increasing) levels of inequalities threaten to be a major barrier to the attainment of the MDGs in Middle Income Countries, as well as globally. They also represent important risks to social stability and progress, as well as being unjust in their own right to the extent that they reflect widespread social exclusion and discrimination. In other words, the focus on inequality in this project is both for instrumental reasons (its likely impact on poverty reduction, growth rates and social stability) and for intrinsic reasons (high levels of inequality being undesirable in and of themselves).
The project focussed on both economic and non-economic aspects of inequality, recognising that the latter (social, political and governance dimensions) are currently less well understood.
For this work programme, briefing papers (downloadable below) on inequality previously prepared by ODI for DFID also provide relevant background by reviewing issues in relation to (i) concepts and measurement of inequality; (ii) the economic links between inequality, poverty reduction and growth; and (iii) policy issues in responding to inequality.
Read more...
WIDGETIZE