GSDRC newsfeed on Inequality

Equitable Access to Basic Utilities: Public versus Private Provision and Beyond

International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How can developing countries increase the poor's access to utilities while maximising the spillover benefits? This issue of 'Poverty in Focus' argues that universal access to basic utilities is justified both on human rights grounds and because it is a public good with positive externalities. Where initial utility coverage is low, subsidy and cross-subsidy schemes are the best option. Where access is higher and privatisation can be considered, contracts must transfer risk to private providers. Instead of focusing on 'public versus private', policy debates should consider the constraints on public intervention, possible improvements, and the potential for alternative provision under a poverty reduction framework.

Conditional Cash Transfers in Brazil, Chile and Mexico: Implications for Inequality

Sergei Soares — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

What impact do conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have on inequality? This paper investigates the effects of CCTs in Brazil, Mexico and Chile. CCT programmes helped reduce inequality in all three countries between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s. They are a low-cost way of reducing inequality that can be replicated. However, the total amount transferred by these programmes is modest, and their expansion is limited by political, administrative and budget constraints.

Conditional Cash Transfers: Reducing Present and Future Poverty

Ariel Fiszbein and Norbert Shady — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Do conditional cash transfer programmes (CCTs) succeed in reducing inequality? Are they effective in producing better development outcomes in the countries where they have been implemented? This report argues that CCTs have been an effective way to redistribute income to the poor, while recognising that even the best-designed and best-managed programme cannot fulfil all of the needs of a comprehensive social protection system. Evidence from existing programmes suggests that to maximise their potential impact, CCTs should be complemented with other interventions, particularly those that focus on outcomes rather than on promoting the use of services alone.

Delivering Services in Multicultural Societies

Alexandre Marc — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How can service delivery policies be designed and implemented so as to recognise and support cultural diversity? This book finds that long-term investment and strategies are needed. Basic principles include the importance of bottom-up and participatory approaches, deep institutional change, and ongoing policy adaptation. Poorly planned and under-resourced interventions can increase social exclusion. Governments should be prepared to meet the additional requirements of capacity building and institutional development.

Horizontal Inequality: Two Types of Trap

Frances Stewart — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Why do group inequalities often persist over the long term, and how can they be addressed? Group membership matters because well-being is affected both by individual circumstances and how well the group is doing. Strong complementarities among (1) capabilities and (2) capitals explain persistent group inequality. Multiple deprivations in capabilities and assets prevent catch-up without special interventions. Addressing HIs therefore requires governments to go beyond eliminating current, formal discrimination: the weak asset and capabilities base arising from past discrimination must also be tackled. As social and cultural capital inequalities cannot be eliminated by policy, strong affirmative action in other areas such as education and employment is justified.

Attacking Inequality in the Health Sector: A Menu of Pro-Poor Policies

Abdo S. Yazbeck — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Several successful programmes addressing the problem of health care inequality have been documented in recent years. This chapter draws on 14 such case studies to suggest general lessons learned. It presents a menu of pro-poor policies, and identifies recurring themes and emerging 'rules of thumb'. Success in reducing inequality can be achieved through programmes that are: developed with an empirical and exploratory spirit; crafted with input from the poor; responsive to specific local realities; and continually evaluated and adjusted.

Applying a Rights-based Approach: An Inspirational Guide for Civil Society

Jakob Kirkemann Boesen and Tomas Martin — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

With its focus on law and the root causes of poverty, the rights-based approach (RBA) releases a new transformative potential for development. This guide provides practical methods for the integration of the RBA into programmes implemented by smaller civil society organisations (CSOs) in poor countries. While it is not a panacea, the RBA has the potential to bring people whose rights are denied by poverty to the centre of development analyses and implementation.

Finance in Conflict and Reconstruction

Tony Addison, Philippe Le Billon and S. Mansoob Murshed — Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

What role does finance play in war and post-conflict reconstruction? Domestic and foreign finance can determine who wins the war, the duration of the conflict and can contribute to increased post-conflict poverty and inequality. Action to reduce war finance (and to increase its cost) may encourage peace, provided such action is implemented across the international community. Financial liberalisation during reconstruction may foster economic instability and endanger peace. Strong financial regulation and supervision is important.

Introduction: Negotiating Empowerment

Andrea Cornwall and Jenny Edwards — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Why are conventional interventions that seek to promote women�s empowerment insufficient? This article highlights the choices, negotiations, narratives, and context of women�s lived experience. It finds that empowerment is a complex process of negotiation rather than a linear sequence of inputs and outcomes. Governments and development agencies need to give more consideration to the structures perpetuating gender inequality. They should invest in creating an enabling environment for women�s empowerment, and should support those who are tackling deeply rooted issues of power impeding transformative change.

Policies Towards Horizontal Inequalities

Frances Stewart, Graham Brown, Arnim Langer — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

What are the most effective strategies for reducing Horizontal Inequalities (HIs)? This book chapter assesses the range of policies that could alleviate the impact of political, cultural and socioeconomic HIs on conflict likelihood. While there may need to be trade-offs with other policy objectives, there is no evidence that reducing HIs needs to reduce growth.

The Political Economy of Public Spending on Education, Inequality and Growth

Mark Gradstein — Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

This paper from the World Bank examines data on public spending on education in developing countries, revealing significant inequality in the distribution of resources between rich and poor groups. While current donor policy is to alleviate poverty through the universal provision of public services in developing countries, the evidence suggests that political dynamics within these countries often distort these goals to the disadvantage of the poor. Personal rent-seeking, in the form of political pressure from richer households, skews resource allocation, often resulting in both increased inequality and social exclusion.

Examining Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes: A Role for Increased Social Inclusion?

Benedicte de la Briere, Laura B. Rawlings — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Conditional Cash Transfer programmes (CCTs) provide money to poor families, contingent on specific verifiable actions such as children's school attendance or preventative health care. How successful are CCTs in addressing social inclusion and inter-generational poverty? What is their impact on social accountability relationships between beneficiaries, service providers and governments? This summary focuses on the Social Inclusion section in a World Bank paper. While CCTs hold promise, they are not a panacea against social exclusion. They should form part of comprehensive social and economic policy strategies and be applied carefully in different policy contexts.

Indigenous Inclusion/Black Exclusion: Race, Ethnicity and Multicultural Citizenship in Latin America

Juliet Hooker — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 GMT

Why is the landscape of citizenship so uneven across Latin America? Latin America exhibits high degrees of racial inequality and discrimination against Afro-Latinos and indigenous populations, despite constitutional and statutory measures prohibiting racial discrimination. The multicultural reforms of the 1980s and 1990s which brought many collective rights to indigenous groups have not, however, had the same impact on Afro-Latinos. This article from the Journal of Latin American Studies examines the region's multicultural citizenship regimes, and finds an emphasis on cultural difference or ethnic identity over race which disadvantages Afro-Latinos.

Inequality and Human Rights: Who Controls What, When, and How

Todd Landman, Marco Larizza — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Are countries with resource distribution inequalities more likely to suffer from higher levels of human rights abuse? This article from the International Studies Quarterly analyses data from 162 countries over the period from 1980 to 2004. The results suggest that both income and land inequalities significantly contribute to human rights abuses.

Social Exclusion, Social Isolation and the Distribution of Income

Brian Barry — Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 GMT

While social exclusion is unquestionably closely associated with poverty, is it inextricably linked? Can a community marked by significant inequalities of power and status still be socially integrated? This paper from the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion discusses the relationships between social exclusion, justice and solidarity, with a particular focus on class systems within the USA and Britain. Despite varying income distribution, government policies targeting inequality and favouring social solidarity can promote an integrated society.

Harmful Traditional Practices in Three Countries of South Asia: Culture, Human Rights and Violence against Women

UNESCAP-Social Development Division — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How can research, advocacy, and legal reform reverse social acceptance of practices that violate the human rights of women and girls? This paper by UNESCAP explores these issues through case studies from Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka and finds that harmful practices have evolved from originally non-harmful colonial, religious and cultural traditions. Combating the entrenched social norms that promote these practices requires a comprehensive, human rights-based approach.

Urban Labour Market Discrimination

Sukhadeo Thorat, Paul Attewell, Firdaus Fatima Rizvi — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Do caste and religion influence a graduate�s employment opportunities in India�s private sector? This paper from the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies examines the prevalence of discrimination in the job application processes of modern private sector enterprises. It finds that discriminatory processes operate even at the first stage of the application process. Caste favouritism and social exclusion still exist in the labour market in today�s urban India.

The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and the Terms of Recognition

Arjun Appadurai — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Why does culture matter for development and for poverty reduction? The capacity to aspire is a future-oriented cultural capacity. This book chapter from Stanford University Press argues that strengthening the capacity to aspire could help the poor to contest and alter the conditions of their poverty. Culture is a dialogue between aspirations and sedimented traditions. Traditions, linked to issues of social class, can conflict with development goals. Policymakers must approach the creation of a culture of aspiration through capacity building.

The Role of Gender Inequalities in Explaining Income Growth, Poverty and Inequality: Evidences from Latin American Countries

Joana Costa, Elydia Silva, Fabio Vaz — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What role can gender play in understanding income growth, poverty and inequality? This working paper, published by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, argues that gender equality is critical in any attempt to reduce poverty. In particular, increasing women's access to the labour market correlated very positively with greater economic equality overall. The analysis draws on microsimulations performed for eight Latin American countries, covering four areas of gender inequality: labour market participation, occupational status, wage discrimination and characteristic endowments.

Urbanization Trends and Forces Shaping Slums

UN-HABITAT — Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Why do cities take certain forms and the poor congregate in particular locations? How do macro or external forces act on the cities responsible for slum formation? Written for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, this paper examines urbanisation trends and the forces that shape slums. It is argued the internal spatial organisation of cities can be seen as ?ecological? competition, with the strongest groups taking the more desirable land.