The Debate on Globalization, Poverty and Inequality: why Measurement Matters

By M. Ravallion. 2003

323 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In the last year or so, markedly different claims have been heard within the development community about how just much progress is being made against poverty and inequality in the current period of “globalization.” This paper provides a non-technical overview of the conceptual and methodological issues underlying these conflicting claims. The paper argues that the dramatically differing positions taken in this debate often stem from differences in the concepts and definitions used and differences in data sources and measurement assumptions. These differences are often hidden from view in the debate, but they need to be considered carefully if one is to properly interpret the evidence. The paper argues that the best available evidence suggests that, if the rate of progress against absolute poverty in the developing world in the 1990s is maintained, then the Millennium Development Goal of halving the 1990 aggregate poverty rate by 2015 will be achieved on time in the aggregate, though not in all regions. The paper concludes with some observations on the implications for policy-oriented debates on globalization and pro-poor growth.

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Citations in the corpus

Environment, Human Development and Economic Growth (2008, background): “…and economic growth (Frankel and Romer, 1999; Winters, 2004), with specific effects on poverty and income distribution (Dollar and Kraay, 2004; Ravallion, 2001, 2003), or specific issues related to the role of institutions (North, 1990; Rodriguez and Rodrik, 2001; Rodrik, 1998, 2000; Sokoloff…”
Does economic globalisation affect income inequality? A meta‐analysis (2020, background): “This section does not provide a comprehensive review of the theoretical literature regarding the links between economic globalisation and income inequality; excellent review papers are abundant (e.g. Burtless 1995; Ravallion 2003; Winters et al. 2004; Anderson 2005; Mills 2009; Demirguc-Kunt and Lev”
Evaluation of financial liberalization : a general equilibrium model with constrained occupation choice (2004, background): “It allows 1See for example Gallup, Radelet and Warner (1998) and Dollar and Kraay (2002) for evidence that growth helps reduce poverty and the concerns of Ravallion (2001, 2002) about their approach.”
Globalization and Inequality (2008, methodology): “Here, the Gini index is the most commonly used measure, which summarizes the income distribution within a country (Ravallion, 2003).”
Trade, Inequality, and Poverty: What Do We Know? (2004, unknown): “As pointed out by Ravallion (2003) the definition of inequality is itself controversial.”
Non-Farm Activity, Household Expenditure, and Poverty Reduction in Rural Vietnam: 2002–2008 (2014, background): “Binary poverty models are criticized for relying on arbitrary poverty lines (Deaton, 2005; Ravallion, 2003).”
Emerging infrastructure policy issues in developing countries - a survey of the recent economic literature (2004, unknown): “(For a useful recent review of the debate and survey of the empirical evidence, see Ravallion 2003.)”
How Have the World's Poorest Fared since the Early 1980s? (2003, background): “Ravallion (2002a) replies to Deaton’s comments; also see Ravallion (2003a) for further discussion.”
Microfinance and the business of poverty reduction: Critical perspectives from rural Bangladesh (2017, background): “…heuristic for researchers and policy makers it does not capture the lived realities of the poor – feelings of powerlessness and vulnerability risks, for example, or poor nutrition and health arising from sustained deprivation, or gender differences in poverty (Chakravarti, 2006; Ravallion, 2003).”
Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries (2007, background): “Mistiaen, J.A. and M. Ravallion (2003): “Survey Compliance and the Distribution of Income,” Policy Research Working Paper 2956, World Bank, Washington DC. Muendler, M. A. (2004): “Trade, Technology, and Productivity: A Study of Brazilian Manufacturers, 1986-1998”, University of California, San…”