Linking Representative Household Models with Household Surveys for Poverty Analysis


Book Description

The authors compare three approaches to linking representative-household macro models with micro household income data in terms of their implications for measuring the poverty and distributional effects of policy shocks. These approaches are a simple micro-accounting method, an extension of that method to account for changes in employment structure, and the Beta distribution approach. Even though in the authors simulation exercises the three methods do not lead to fundamentally different results in absolute terms, they show that potential differences in the measurement of distributional and poverty effects of policy shocks can be very large.




Linking Representative Household Models with Household Surveys for Poverty Analysis


Book Description

Agenor, Chen, and Grimm compare three approaches to linking macroeconomic models with representative households in terms of their implications for measuring the poverty and distributional effects of poverty reduction strategies. These approaches are a simple micro-accounting method, an extension of that method to account for changes in employment structure, and the Beta distribution approach. Even though in their simulation exercises the three methods do not lead to fundamentally different results in absolute terms, the authors show that potential differences in the measurement of distributional and poverty effects of policy shocks can be very large.This paper - a product of the Global Knowledge and Learning Division, World Bank Institute - is part of a larger effort in the institute to evaluate poverty and the distributional effects of poverty reduction strategies.




Agricultural Household Models


Book Description

This book presents the basic model of an agricultural household that underlies most of the case studies undertaken so far. The model assumes that households are price-takers and is therefore recursive. The decisions modeled include those affecting production and the demand for inputs and those affecting consumption and the supply of labor. Comparative results on selected elasticities are presented for a number of economies. The empirical significance of the approach is demonstrated in a comparison of models that treat production and consumption decisions separately and those in which the decisionmaking process is recursive. The book summarizes the implications of agricultural pricing policy for the welfare of farm households, marketed surplus, the demand for nonagricultural goods and services, the rural labor market, budget revenues, and foreign exchange earnings. In addition, it is shown that the basic model can be extended in order to explore the effects of government policy on crop composition, nutritional status, health, saving, and investment and to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the effects on budget revenues and foreign exchange earnings. Methodological topics, primarily the data requirements of the basic model and its extensions, along with aggregation, market interaction, uncertainty, and market imperfections are discussed. The most important methodological issues - the question of the recursive property of these models - is also discussed.




Poverty and Social Impact Analysis of Reforms


Book Description

Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) is an approach used increasingly by governments, civil society organizations, the World Bank, and other development partners to examine the distributional impacts of policy reforms on the well-being of different stakeholders groups, particularly the poor and vulnerable. PSIA has an important role in the elaboration and implementation of poverty reduction strategies in developing countries because it promotes evidence-based policy choices and fosters debate on policy reform options. 'Poverty and Social Impact Analysis of Reforms' presents a collection of case studies that illustrate the spectrum of sectors and policy reforms to which PSIA can be applied; it also elaborates on the broad range of analytical tools and techniques that can be used for PSIA. The case studies provide examples of the impact that PSIA can have on the design of policy reforms and draw operational lessons for PSIA implementation. The case studies deal largely with policy reforms in a single sector, such as agriculture (crop marketing boards in Malawi and Tanzania and cotton privatization in Tajikistan); energy (mining sector in Romania and oil subsidies in Ghana); utilities (power sector reform in Ghana, Rwanda, and transition economies, and water sector reform in Albania); social sectors (education reform in Mozambique and social welfare reform in Sri Lanka); taxation reform (Nicaragua); as well as macroeconomic modeling (Burkina Faso).




Adjustment Policies, Poverty, and Unemployment


Book Description

Pierre-Richard Agenor's pioneering work on IntegratedMacroeconomics Models for Poverty Analysis (IMMPA) is cataloged forthe first time in this must-read volume. A class of dynamic computable general equilibrium models, IMMPAmodels are designed to analyze the impact of adjustment policies onunemployment and poverty in the developing world. Including bothpapers originally circulated through the World Bank, as well as newmaterial that places this important work in its larger context,Adjustment Policies, Poverty, and Unemployment details the historyand uses of these models to date, as well as pointing to futuredevelopments for their utilization.




Development Policies and Policy Processes in Africa


Book Description

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. The book examines the methodological challenges in analyzing the effectiveness of development policies. It presents a selection of tools and methodologies that can help tackle the complexities of which policies work best and why, and how they can be implemented effectively given the political and economic framework conditions of a country. The contributions in this book offer a continuation of the ongoing evidence-based debate on the role of agriculture and participatory policy processes in reducing poverty. They develop and apply quantitative political economy approaches by integrating quantitative models of political decision-making into existing economic modeling tools, allowing a more comprehensive growth-poverty analysis. The book addresses not only scholars who use quantitative policy modeling and evaluation techniques in their empirical or theoretical research, but also technical experts, including policy makers and analysts from stakeholder organizations, involved in formulating and implementing policies to reduce poverty and to increase economic and social well-being in African countries.




Analyzing the Distributional Impact of Reforms, 2


Book Description

"The analysis of the distributional impact of policy reforms on the well-being or welfare of different stakeholder groups, particularly on th e poor and vulnerable, has an important role in the elaboration and implementation of poverty reduction strategies in developing countries. In recent years this type of work has been labeled as Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) and is increasingly implemented to promote evidence-based policy choices and foster debate on policy reform options. While information is available on the general approach, techniques, and tools for distributional analysis, each sector displays a series of specific characteristics. These have implications for the analysis of distributional impacts, including the types of impacts and transmission channels that warrant particular attention, the tools and techniques most appropriate, the data source typically utilized, and the range of political economy factors most likely to affect the reform process. This volume provides an overview of the specific issues arising in the analysis of the distributional impacts of policy and institutional reforms in selected sectors. Each chapter offers guidance on the selection of tools and techniques most adapted to the reforms under scrutiny, and offers examples of applications of these approaches. This is a companion to the first volume, which offers guidance on trade, monetary and exchange rate policy, utility provision, agricultural markets, land policy, and education."




Biofuels, Poverty, and Growth: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis of Mozambique


Book Description

This paper assesses the implications of large-scale investments in biofuels for growth and income distribution. We find that biofuels investment enhances growth and poverty reduction despite some displacement of food crops by biofuels. Overall, the biofuel investment trajectory analyzed increases Mozambique's annual economic growth by 0.6 percentage points and reduces the incidence of poverty by about 6 percentage points over a 12-year phase-in period. Benefits depend on production technology. An outgrower approach to producing biofuels is more pro-poor, due to the greater use of unskilled labor and accrual of land rents to smallholders, compared with the more capital-intensive plantation approach. Moreover, the benefits of outgrower schemes are enhanced if they result in technology spillovers to other crops. These results should not be taken as a green light for unrestrained biofuels development. Rather, they indicate that a carefully designed and managed biofuels policy holds the potential for substantial gains.




The Integrated Macroeconomic Model for Poverty Analysis


Book Description

Agénor, Izquierdo, and Fofack present a dynamic, quantitative macroeconomic framework designed for analyzing the impact of adjustment policies and exogenous shocks on poverty and income distribution. They emphasize the role of labor market segmentation, urban informal activities, the impact of the composition of public expenditure on supply and demand, and credit market imperfections. Numerical simulations for a prototype low-income country highlight the importance of accounting for the various channels through which poverty alleviation programs and debt relief may ultimately affect the poor. This paper--a product of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Division, World Bank Institute--is part of a larger effort in the institute to understand the impact of adjustment policies on the poor.