Pro-poor growth

Measuring pro-poor growth

Measuring pro-poor growth and understanding the impact that growth is having on poor people will contribute to achieving poverty reduction. Being able to measure progress is vital for an understanding of what needs to be done to meet not only the Millennium Development Goals, but also countries’ individual Poverty Reduction Strategies. Many of the references at the start of this guide, under ‘Where is a good place to start?’ provide good introductions to measurement issues. The following documents are also useful.

Klasen, S., 2005, ‘Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction: Measurement and Policy Issues’, Working paper 246, OECD Development Centre, Issy-les-Moulineaux
What are the linkages between economic growth, inequality, and poverty reduction? How can pro-poor growth be defined and measured? This paper, by the OECD Development Centre, applies the analytical tools for pro-poor growth to non-income dimensions of poverty such as health, education and gender equity, using the example of Bolivia. It highlights differences in the evolution of income and non-income dimensions of poverty and argues that an exclusive focus on the income dimension is flawed.
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Ravallion, M. and Chen, S., 2003, ‘Measuring Pro-poor Growth’ Economic Letters, 78, pp. 93-99
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