World poverty is a persistent phenomenon despite international efforts and the improvements achieved in the last few decades. For many people it can be a chronic condition. This thesis aims at testing that the main reason some people are poor is due to a poverty trap, i.e., to some contextual mechanisms which limit their ability to escape poverty, reproducing it over time. To investigate this hypothesis, this thesis is guided by three different questions. First, does a poverty trap emerge in the aftermath of an extreme weather shock? Second, do communities in a humanitarian context have the same wealth dynamics? Third, what is the role of income diversification for agricultural households for asset accumulation, and does it depend on their wealth? The analysis focuses (a) on the case of Nigeria and a devastating flood, (b) on refugees and host communities in Uganda and (c) on agricultural households in Tanzania, respectively. Results show that Nigerian flooded households have poverty traps dynamics, condemning the poorest in a destitute state over time. Refugees and host communities in Uganda have similar wealth dynamics but both converge to a low-wealth equilibrium, suggesting a structural poverty trap that worse for refugees. Income diversification in Tanzania shows important nonlinearities according to households’ wealth: it fosters the accumulation of durable assets for better-off households only, while helping the poorest to accumulate livestock. These findings shed light on the interaction of low-income conditions and contextual challenges and opportunities, suggesting policy actions able to lift poor people above a wealth threshold, improve their living conditions and favouring their profitability.

In this collection of essays I study individuals' health related decision-making and the consequences of those decisions for health and labor market productivity.

Shandong Province, renowned as China’s greatest agricultural province, is dominated by smallholders growing rain-fed crops and vulnerable to severe weather shocks that can increase poverty rates. Weather index insurance, an innovative agricultural risk management product, may be an effective mechanism to address vulnerability to catastrophic weather risk in rural regions of China, including Shandong. This project evaluated current household livelihood and risk management strategies and farmer interest in weather index insurance. Data from 174 participants were collected using a methodology that included focus groups, questionnaires, and personal interviews. Despite limited access to formal financial services, Shandong farmers generally employ informal, well-diversified income strategies and rely on no-interest informal loans from community members to manage adverse impacts of natural disasters, such as drought. Households sometimes rely on reducing consumption as a risk coping strategy; however, unlike many regions of the world, Shandong farmers do not tend to sell livelihood assets to manage weather shocks. A majority of interviewed participants were interested in weather index insurance after they understood its basic concept; however, participants expressed concerns regarding basis risk and program implementation.

Martin Ravallion ("Why Don't We See Poverty Convergence?" American Economic Review, 102(1): 504-23; 2012) presents evidence against the existence of convergence in global poverty rates despite convergence in household mean income levels and the close linkage between income growth and poverty reduction. We show that this finding is driven by a specification that demands more than simple convergence in poverty headcount rates and assumes a growth elasticity of poverty reduction, which is well-known to accelerate with low initial poverty levels. If we motivate the poverty convergence equation using an arguably superior growth semi-elasticity of poverty reduction, we find highly significant and robust evidence of convergence in absolute poverty headcount ratios and poverty gaps. Relatedly, we show that the results in Ravallion (2012) are driven by the special income growth and poverty dynamics in Central and Eastern European transition economies that started with low initial poverty rates and thus observed a high elasticity of poverty reduction. Once we control for their abnormal poverty dynamics, we again find robust evidence of global convergence in poverty, even in the original specification by Ravallion (2012). (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

The first two chapters examine the party's policy towards the wage-stop and the poverty trap. Until 1963 the party ignored the wage-stop but from then until 1975 a section of the party campaigned against the regulation expressing moral revulsion and concern about its administration but only rarely opposition to the principle. A Labour government removed the stop when its operation affected only a tiny minority of families. The party was quickly involved in the development of the poverty trap debate being particularly drawn to its disincentive characteristics, but Labour governments, like their Conservative counterparts, soon came to regard the idea as a mere statistical abstraction. After confirming the party's historical ambivalence about Family Allowances the thesis demonstrated that whenever it advocated allowances it did so because it believed the programme would alleviate family poverty rather than augment work incentives. However Labour governments consistently upheld the principle of substitutability, thus conferring de facto support on that less-eligibility dimension of Family Allowances which Macnicol has established informed the coalition government's decision to legislate for the programme in 1945. Despite the party's opposition to Family Income Supplement it became an important element in the Labour government's anti-poverty strategy after the Child Benefits debate in 1976. F.I.S. was criticised because of its contribution to the poverty trap and its potential for assisting in the pauperisation of the low paid, while Child Benefit was supported because it appeared to be a more equitable technique of delivering support to families with dependent children although some in the party were sensitive to the scheme's potential link with improved work incentives. In general, the Labour Party is seen to have failed to develop any coherent and sustained alternative to the ideas and programmes of its political opponents in this critical area of social policy.

The first two chapters examine the party's policy towards the wage-stop and the poverty trap. Until 1963 the party ignored the wage-stop but from then until 1975 a section of the party campaigned against the regulation expressing moral revulsion and concern about its administration but only rarely opposition to the principle. A Labour government removed the stop when its operation affected only a tiny minority of families. The party was quickly involved in the development of the poverty trap debate being particularly drawn to its disincentive characteristics, but Labour governments, like their Conservative counterparts, soon came to regard the idea as a mere statistical abstraction. After confirming the party's historical ambivalence about Family Allowances the thesis demonstrated that whenever it advocated allowances it did so because it believed the programme would alleviate family poverty rather than augment work incentives. However Labour governments consistently upheld the principle of substitutability, thus conferring de facto support on that less-eligibility dimension of Family Allowances which Macnicol has established informed the coalition government's decision to legislate for the programme in 1945. Despite the party's opposition to Family Income Supplement it became an important element in the Labour government's anti-poverty strategy after the Child Benefits debate in 1976. F.I.S. was criticised because of its contribution to the poverty trap and its potential for assisting in the pauperisation of the low paid, while Child Benefit was supported because it appeared to be a more equitable technique of delivering support to families with dependent children although some in the party were sensitive to the scheme's potential link with improved work incentives. In general, the Labour Party is seen to have failed to develop any coherent and sustained alternative to the ideas and programmes of its political opponents in this critical area of social policy.

Nos últimos anos, evidenciou-se a adoção de Programas de Transferência Condicionada de Renda (PTCR) por diversos países como parte de um esforço para reduzir seus indicadores de pobreza extrema. Sua eficácia é comprovada por muitos estudos, sendo seus resultados positivos reconhecidos em áreas como saúde, educação, redução do trabalho infantil e da desigualdade de renda, entre outros. No entanto, é escassa a literatura que aborda os resultados desses Programas para alguns desses aspectos em longo prazo. Haja vista sua relevância, destacada nos últimos anos, no combate à pobreza, o estudo aprofundado de impactos de PTCR demonstra-se fundamental para a elaboração de políticas públicas que aumentem o bem-estar da população. A presente dissertação compreende uma avaliação sobre o tema a partir da elaboração de um modelo teórico de equilíbrio geral, baseado em contribuições relevantes da literatura sobre crescimento econômico, armadilha da pobreza e igualdade de oportunidade. Esse modelo é posteriormente calibrado para diferentes cenários, verificando-se as suas principais implicações de longo prazo. A partir desse exercício, obtiveram-se resultados positivos do PTCR para indicadores como frequência escolar, renda per capita e redução da desigualdade de renda. Todavia, a eficácia do Programa depende de como ele é formatado, visto que, em alguns cenários, os impactos econômicos registrados foram nulos ou negativos / Over the last years, many countries adopted Conditional Cash Transfer Programs (CCTP) as part of an effort to reduce their extreme poverty indicators. Its effectiveness is proven by several studies, and its positive results are known in areas such as health, education, child labour reduction, income inequality reduction, among others. However, the literature concerning CCTP results for many of those aspects in the long term is scarce. Considering its relevance for fighting poverty, highlighted over the last years, making a profound study of the CCTP impacts is essential to formulate public policies that enhance population welfare. This dissertation consists of an analysis of this subject, by the elaboration of a general equilibrium theoretical model, based on relevant contributions of the literature on economic growth, poverty trap and equality of opportunity. That model is then calibrated for different scenarios, in order to verify its main long term consequences. By doing that exercise, many positive results of the CCTP were verified for variables such as school attendance, income per capita and income inequality reduction. Nonetheless, the Program\'s effectiveness depends on how it is formulated, considering that the economic results were null or negative in some scenarios.

Nos últimos anos, evidenciou-se a adoção de Programas de Transferência Condicionada de Renda (PTCR) por diversos países como parte de um esforço para reduzir seus indicadores de pobreza extrema. Sua eficácia é comprovada por muitos estudos, sendo seus resultados positivos reconhecidos em áreas como saúde, educação, redução do trabalho infantil e da desigualdade de renda, entre outros. No entanto, é escassa a literatura que aborda os resultados desses Programas para alguns desses aspectos em longo prazo. Haja vista sua relevância, destacada nos últimos anos, no combate à pobreza, o estudo aprofundado de impactos de PTCR demonstra-se fundamental para a elaboração de políticas públicas que aumentem o bem-estar da população. A presente dissertação compreende uma avaliação sobre o tema a partir da elaboração de um modelo teórico de equilíbrio geral, baseado em contribuições relevantes da literatura sobre crescimento econômico, armadilha da pobreza e igualdade de oportunidade. Esse modelo é posteriormente calibrado para diferentes cenários, verificando-se as suas principais implicações de longo prazo. A partir desse exercício, obtiveram-se resultados positivos do PTCR para indicadores como frequência escolar, renda per capita e redução da desigualdade de renda. Todavia, a eficácia do Programa depende de como ele é formatado, visto que, em alguns cenários, os impactos econômicos registrados foram nulos ou negativos / Over the last years, many countries adopted Conditional Cash Transfer Programs (CCTP) as part of an effort to reduce their extreme poverty indicators. Its effectiveness is proven by several studies, and its positive results are known in areas such as health, education, child labour reduction, income inequality reduction, among others. However, the literature concerning CCTP results for many of those aspects in the long term is scarce. Considering its relevance for fighting poverty, highlighted over the last years, making a profound study of the CCTP impacts is essential to formulate public policies that enhance population welfare. This dissertation consists of an analysis of this subject, by the elaboration of a general equilibrium theoretical model, based on relevant contributions of the literature on economic growth, poverty trap and equality of opportunity. That model is then calibrated for different scenarios, in order to verify its main long term consequences. By doing that exercise, many positive results of the CCTP were verified for variables such as school attendance, income per capita and income inequality reduction. Nonetheless, the Program\'s effectiveness depends on how it is formulated, considering that the economic results were null or negative in some scenarios.

This thesis is mapping current situation in the area of consumer lending, shows main reasons and impacts of overindebtedness and also its connetion to consumer lending. The target is to suggest appropriate regulation to lower the rate of overindebtedness, that exists in this area due to the absence of regulation in the area of consumer lending in Czech republic. Suggested regulation insures higher consumer protection and compact rules for all the partcipants on the consumer lending market. It also collects complex information about clients and their debt ratio. It has advantages for all participants.

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