Public Finance for Poverty Reduction


Book Description

This book presents some basic theoretical concepts of public finance with a particular emphasis on its impact poverty reduction. Eight case studies from Latin America and Africa illustrate how these concepts are applied in practice and the implementation issues that emerge.




Finance, Inequality, and Poverty


Book Description

"While substantial research finds that financial development boosts overall economic growth, we study whether financial development disproportionately raises the incomes of the poor and alleviates poverty. Using a broad cross-country sample, we distinguish among competing theoretical predictions about the impact of financial development on changes in income distribution and poverty alleviation. We find that financial development reduces income inequality by disproportionately boosting the incomes of the poor. Countries with better-developed financial intermediaries experience faster declines in measures of both poverty and income inequality. These results are robust to controlling for other country characteristics and potential reverse causality"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.




PEFA, Public Financial Management, and Good Governance


Book Description

This project, based on the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) data set, researched how PEFA can be used to shape policy development in public financial management (PFM) and other major relevant policy areas such as anticorruption, revenue mobilization, political economy analysis, and fragile states. The report explores what shapes the PFM system in low- and middle-income countries by examining the relationship between political institutions and the quality of the PFM system. Although the report finds some evidence that multiple political parties in control of the legislature is associated with better PFM performance, the report finds the need to further refine and test the theories on the relationship between political institutions and PFM. The report addresses the question of the outcomes of PFM systems, distinguishing between fragile and nonfragile states. It finds that better PFM performance is associated with more reliable budgets in terms of expenditure composition in fragile states, but not aggregate budget credibility. Moreover, in contrast to existing studies, it finds no evidence that PFM quality matters for deficit and debt ratios, irrespective of whether a country is fragile or not. The report also explores the relationship between perceptions of corruption and PFM performance. It finds strong evidence of a relationship between better PFM performance and improvements in perceptions of corruption. It also finds that PFM reforms associated with better controls have a stronger relationship with improvements in perceptions of corruption compared to PFM reforms associated with more transparency. The last chapter looks at the relationship between PEFA indicators for revenue administration and domestic resource mobilization. It focuses on the credible use of penalties for noncompliance as a proxy for the type of political commitment required to improve tax performance. The analysis shows that countries that credibly enforce penalties for noncompliance collect more taxes on average.




Globalization and Poverty


Book Description

Over the past two decades, the percentage of the world’s population living on less than a dollar a day has been cut in half. How much of that improvement is because of—or in spite of—globalization? While anti-globalization activists mount loud critiques and the media report breathlessly on globalization’s perils and promises, economists have largely remained silent, in part because of an entrenched institutional divide between those who study poverty and those who study trade and finance. Globalization and Poverty bridges that gap, bringing together experts on both international trade and poverty to provide a detailed view of the effects of globalization on the poor in developing nations, answering such questions as: Do lower import tariffs improve the lives of the poor? Has increased financial integration led to more or less poverty? How have the poor fared during various currency crises? Does food aid hurt or help the poor? Poverty, the contributors show here, has been used as a popular and convenient catchphrase by parties on both sides of the globalization debate to further their respective arguments. Globalization and Poverty provides the more nuanced understanding necessary to move that debate beyond the slogans.




Financial Development, Institutions, Growth and Poverty Reduction


Book Description

This book explores country case studies and works that detail the exact transmission mechanisms through which financial development can enhance pro-poor development in order to derive best practices in this field. This is an important companion for professionals and policymakers, and also a vital reference source for students.




Economic Alternatives for Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction


Book Description

This book is a collection of working papers, policy briefs and training modules, published by the International Poverty Centre in Brazil, which provides a comprehensives set of recommendations for alternative economic policies that can generate growth, employment and poverty reduction in developing countries.




Finance Against Poverty: Volume 1


Book Description

In two volumes these books review and expand the theory that poverty in the world's poorest regions could be alleviated by providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs. Volume 1 provides detailed analysis of this theory and offers policy recommendations for practitioners in this field. Volume 2 presents empirical evidence drawn from comparative experiences in seven developing countries. The work assesses the success of this policy and provides some startling conclusions. This is essential reading for all those interested in development, poverty-reduction, social welfare and finance.




Creating Fiscal Space for Poverty Reduction in Ecuador


Book Description

This publication reviews Ecuador's fiscal management and public expenditure policies in the context of its development and poverty reduction goals. Findings include that the country's impressive fiscal performance of 2003 is encouraging but fragile, as several structural bottlenecks could impede fiscal discipline and recovery. Reversing poverty trends is critical for the country's stability, and this can only be achieved with well-targeted, effective and efficient pro-poor programmes.




Assessing and Reforming Public Financial Management


Book Description

This study compares the various instruments and approaches used by the World Bank, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the Strategic Partnership for Africa and several bilateral donor agencies to assess and reform public expenditure management systems in developing and transitional countries. It identifies weaknesses in the current system and recommends a new medium-term, country-led, multidonor approach which is focused on better budgetary management supplemented by donor aid funds, as a key mechanism to reduce poverty and attain other policy goals.




Macroeconomic Policy and Poverty Reduction


Book Description

This pamphlet excerpts a chapter on macroeconomic policy from the Poverty Reduction Policy Source book, a guide prepared by the World Bank and IMF to assist countries in developing and strengthening their poverty reduction strategies. It probes the relationship between macroeconomic policy matters, such as growth and inflation, and the fight against poverty, and explains how sound monetary and fiscal policies-key tools of the macroeconomist-can help to spur growth and ease poverty.