This dissertation attempts to examine the effect of urbanization on poverty reduction outcomes by considering various dimensions of poverty and channels of reducing poverty. First, we develop a theoretical model in order to infer a relationship between urbanization and poverty reduction outcomes. Specifically, it shows an optimal level of urbanization to properly allocate basic public infrastructure and promote pro-poor growth. Second, we conduct empirical analysis on international data to examine the testable hypotheses that are derived from the theoretical model. Further, we explore the “channeled effects” of urbanization on basic education and health by the IV estimation and on productivity by the dynamic panel GMM estimation. As the theoretical model suggests, our results exhibit the statistically significant relationship in a non-linear form between urbanization and poverty. In addition, we explore the impact of urbanization on poverty reduction outcomes in different regions in order to see the various magnitudes of urbanization effects among regions.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The high rate of poverty in Nigeria has reached alarming proportions. Despite average economic growth rates of 6 percent between 2004 and 2010, the incidence of poverty has remained high, increasing from 54.7 percent in 2004 to 60.9 percent in 2010 (Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 2010). A drop in the poverty rate to an average of 56.1 percent between 1999 and 2007 could be attributed to the measures taken by the civilian government against administrative corruption, increased domestic and foreign investments and some implemented agricultural policies. These efforts were thwarted by subsequent administrations with devastating effects for the Nigerian population. It is in recognition of this that this study examines the political economy of poverty in Nigeria; analyses the variations in poverty and inequality across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria; examines the impact of economic growth on poverty reduction across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria over the period 2010 - 2013; investigates the reasons for the low rates of poverty reduction in Nigeria and analyses whether economic growth in Nigeria was pro-poor.

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Education, as an indispensable component of human capital, has been acknowledged to play a critical role in economic growth, which is theoretically elaborated by human capital theory and empirically confirmed by evidence from different parts of the world. The educational impact on growth is especially valuable and meaningful when it is for the sake of poverty reduction and pro-poorness of growth. The paper re-explores the precious link between human capital development and poverty reduction by investigating the causal effect of education accumulation on earnings enhancement for anti-poverty and pro-poor growth. The analysis takes the evidence from a well-known conditional cash transfer (CCT) program — Oportunidades in Mexico. Aiming at alleviating poverty and promoting a better future by investing in human capital for children and youth in poverty, this CCT program has been recognized producing significant outcomes. The study investigates a short-term impact of education on earnings of the economically disadvantaged youth, taking the data of both the program’s treated and untreated youth from urban areas in Mexico from 2002 to 2004. Two econometric techniques, i.e. difference-in-differences and difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach are applied for estimation. The empirical analysis first identifies that youth who under the program’s schooling intervention possess an advantage in educational attainment over their non-intervention peers; with this identification of education discrepancy as a prerequisite, further results then present that earnings of the education advantaged youth increase at a higher rate about 20 percent than earnings of their education disadvantaged peers over the two years. This result indicates a confirmation that education accumulation for the economically disadvantaged young has a positive impact on their earnings enhancement and thus inferring a contribution to poverty reduction and pro-poorness of growth.

This paper is a balance of the Peruvian economic policies, taken by government inthe last decade. We focus on determining, based on the available literature, whetheror not these polices have improved the economic well-being of poor people. Furthermore,this balance allow us to give the agenda for future research on these areas, aswell as to shed some light about the pro-poor necessary policies. There are several policies that have been taken into account in this balance. Macroeconomicpolicies; trade and investment policies; specific sector promotion policies(agriculture, industry and mining sector); labor (both formal and informal), capitaland land markets; regulation of goods and services markets (telecommunications andelectricity); taxation policies; public expenditure; security and risk management mechanismsand, finally, regional policies. / La década de 1990, en el Perú, estuvo marcada por un conjunto de profundos cambios en materia de política económica. Este trabajo hace un balance de las políticas económicas tomadas en función de su contribución al empeoramiento o mejoramiento del nivel de vida de los pobres. Asimismo, este balance nos permite arrojar algunas luces acerca de las políticas necesarias, así como darnos cuenta de cuáles son los temas no abordados y las investigaciones pendientes para los futuros años de investigación. Las políticas consideradas se refieren a la política macroeconómica; el comercio internacional y la inversión; las políticas sectoriales (sector agrícola, industrial y minero); los mercados de trabajo (formal e informal), capital y tierras para zonas urbanas y rurales; la regulación de los mercados de bienes y servicios (telecomunicaciones y electricidad); la tributación; el gasto público; la seguridad y los mecanismos de manejo de riesgos y, por último, las políticas regionales.

O crescimento econÃmico de longo prazo à condiÃÃo sine qua non para uma populaÃÃo garantir seu bem-estar e o de suas geraÃÃes futuras. Muitas vezes o fluxo de renda em uma economia especÃfica à insuficiente para proporcionar a todos uma vida digna de modo que todos estejam inclusos na sociedade do consumo. Outras vezes hà renda suficiente para que toda sociedade se beneficie dos frutos gerados por esta, como à o caso do Brasil. Entretanto, a renda gerada se concentra em camadas mais ricas da sociedade de modo que impossibilita, direta e muitas vezes indiretamente, Ãs camadas mais pobres as condiÃÃes mÃnimas de sobrevivÃncia. Portanto, sÃo sempre vÃlidos os estudos que busquem entender, identificar e propor soluÃÃes viÃveis para o problema da pobreza. Este trabalho busca diagnosticar os fatores de crescimento atravÃs da decomposiÃÃo dos Ãndices de pobreza (proporÃÃo de pobres, hiato de pobreza e hiato quadrÃtico), de modo a identificar os fatores de influÃncia do crescimento econÃmico e da desigualdade de renda nos Ãndices de pobreza, alÃm de acompanhar sua evoluÃÃo entre 1995 e 2005 com base nos dados disponibilizados pela Pesquisa Nacional de DomicÃlios (PNAD) em valores constantes corrigidos pelo Ãndice Nacional de PreÃo ao Consumidor de 2005. Por meio dessa evoluÃÃo à possÃvel identificar se o crescimento econÃmico à pro pobre ou nÃo. O modelo de decomposiÃÃo consegue separar os efeitos do crescimento econÃmico e da distribuiÃÃo de renda nos Ãndices de pobreza, sendo necessÃrios os dados sobre a renda familiar per capita da zona rural e a curva de Lorenz, que à o parÃmetro de desigualdade. O modelo foi utilizado para a anÃlise em Ãmbito nacional, regional e estadual, abrangendo vinte estados e excluindo o Distrito Federal e os estados da regiÃo Norte, exceto Tocantins. Os resultados sinalizam na grande maioria dos estados, a ocorrÃncia de crescimento prà pobre na zona rural brasileira e indicam ainda o Nordeste como a regiÃo mais atingida com o fenÃmeno da pobreza rural. Juntamente com o Norte, à a que menos reduziu a sua proporÃÃo de pobres, sugerindo a formaÃÃo de clubes de convergÃncia. Em se tratando da anÃlise por estado, devem-se assinalar os estados das regiÃes Sul e Centro-Oeste que lideram o ranking de reduÃÃo de pobreza rural para todos os Ãndices observados. Os resultados deste estudo podem ainda fundamentar estratÃgias de polÃticas pÃblicas regionais que visem aumentar a atividade econÃmica, e as polÃticas de distribuiÃÃo de renda. / Long-term economic growth is a sine qua non condition for ensuring the well being of a population and of their future generations. Most of the time the level of income of a given economy is insufficient to provide a decent life for the population in such a way to enable that everyone is included in the society of consumption. Though, as in Brazilâs case, the income generated is more than enough to provide those benefits for the population, its distribution in fact, doesnât favor this desired outcome. Thus studies that attempts to analyses the relation of income distribution and poverty are relevant. This paper analyses the factors of growth through the decomposition of poverty rates (proportion of poor, the poverty gap and quadratic gap poverty), in order to identify the possible influence of economic growth and inequality of income distribution in the poverty indices. Additionally it analyses the evolution of the poverty indices as well its evolution in the period of 1995 and 2005 based on data provided by the National Survey of Household (PNAD) at constant values corrected by the National Index of Consumer Price to 2005. Through this evolution it is possible to identify if economic growth is in favor or not of the poor. This model of decomposition allows for the separation of effects of economic growth and income distribution on the poverty indices. To achieve this result data on household per capita income of rural area and on the Lorenz curve are necessary. This two set of information give a measure of inequality. The analysis was made at the national, regional and state levels, and involved twenty states. The Federal District and the states of the north region, except Tocantins were excluded. The results indicate the occurrence of positive effects in relation to the poor for the Brazilian rural area in the majority of states. It also indicates that the Northeast region was the most affected with the phenomenon of rural poverty. The Northeast and the Northern regions are the ones where the proportions of poor were less reduced suggesting the formation of clubs of convergence. At the state level it is important to note that the states of the South and Center-West regions are the leaders in reducing the rural poverty for all observed indices. These results can give a basis for implementation of strategies for public policies aimed at increasing regional economic activity, as well as policies for the distribution of income.

In capital-scarce low income economies, the lack of attractiveness to private foreign investment implies that the only readily available source of external financing for economic development has to come from foreign aid which normally comes with an altruistic motive. However, despite long history of aid-giving to low income countries and especially Sub-Saharan Africa, evidence of effectiveness of such assistance has remained debatable, particularly with the dominance of cross-country studies in such enquiry. With yet no existing country study for Sierra Leone, a typical aid dependent country, this research investigates the relationship between donor intervention (in their aid disbursement) and the development outcomes of economic growth and poverty reduction in the country. In conducting such an enquiry, the study proposed three objectives. The first examines the relationship between aid and economic growth. The second objective investigates the relationship between aid and poverty reduction considering two variants of poverty reduction: improvement of pro-poor growth and aggregate human welfare. The final objective assesses the effect of domestic politics on aid’s effectiveness in improving human welfare. Arising from a pluralistic analytical framework involving a triangulation of econometric estimation approaches complemented with qualitative enquiry, the study finds that aid to Sierra Leone is significant in promoting economic growth in the country. In terms of the impact on poverty, the results show that foreign aid to Sierra Leone has significantly improved long-run pro-poor growth in the country, but this impact could not be confirmed in the short-run. With respect to the other strand of poverty, the study finds that though aid may have not improved human well-being in Africa, it is found to significantly improve human development in Sierra Leone, though the evidence could not support its reduction of infant mortality rate as a second indicator of human well-being. Finally, for the investigation of the link between aid, politics and human development in Sierra Leone, the study finds that though aid is significant in directly improving human development in the country, yet pro-democratic politics (as against autocratic regimes) can also be good a policy option for aid‘s impact on human development in the country. Accounting for disaggregation bias of foreign aid, the study finds that whilst grants seem to consistently improve economic growth, pro-poor growth and human welfare, the study could not find strong evidence to suggest that technical assistance and loans likewise improve economic development the country. The impact of food aid on pro-poor growth is found to be moderate in conformity with the study’s hypothesis. Concluding from the analysis, it is evident in the case of Sierra Leone that the supplemental theories largely hold that foreign aid is vital in the promotion of a country’s economic development. Hence, the intervention of donors in the economy of Sierra Leone has not seemed to be in vain, but has rather proved to be largely useful. It implies that Sierra Leone’s persistent poverty characterisation amidst notable donor presence and participation in the country’s economy has little to do with the fact that foreign aid has not been effective in promoting the country’s economic development, but it may however be that the magnitude of the effect may not have been that high to completely eradicate poverty. The study’s identification of the most effective types of aid as well the realisation of political stability and democracy for enhanced effectiveness of aid in the country could be crucial if the economic significance of foreign aid is to be improved in Sierra Leone.

A pobreza, em seus aspectos sócio-econômicos, deve ser analisada considerando a ordem de ocupação geográfica, que o modo de vida da população impõe. Na primeira etapa deste trabalho a Nova Geografia Econômica (NGE) é apresentada como um modelo de compreensão desta ordem. Neste modelo, escala, proximidade e liberdade econômica são elementos fundamentais para explicar pujança ou estagnação econômica. A partir desta compreensão, na segunda etapa do trabalho discute-se sobre a pobreza, em particular sobre a mudança de concepção sobre esta para as Ciências Humanas em geral. Ainda nesta etapa comenta-se o caso brasileiro e propõe-se a metodologia do crescimento pró-pobre como uma metodologia aplicável de análise. Por fim, na última parte do trabalho são utilizados dados dos municípios da Região Sul do Brasil e se procede a aplicação de um modelo da NGE, baseando em Hanson (1999) e também faz-se análise do crescimento pró-pobre para todos os municípios da mesma região. O objetivo destes testes é verificar se a validade dos pressupostos da NGE para conforme os dados e o modelo utilizado e também verificar qual a qualidade do crescimento na Região no período entre 1991 e 2000. Os resultados dos testes do modelo da NGE não foram muito significativos, prejudicando conclusões afirmativas. Por outro lado, a análise do crescimento pró-pobre mostrou resultados interessantes: as grandes cidades da região apresentaram crescimento positivo da renda com concentração. Este padrão é um indício a ser investigado mais profundamente para compreender as ligações entre aglomerações e pobreza. / Poverty, in its social and economic aspects, should be analyzed taking into consideration the geographical order that the population’s way of life imposes. In the first part of this study, the New Economic Geography (NEG) is presented as a model to comprehend such order. In its principles, scale, proximity and economic freedom are fundamental to explain boost or stagnation. After that, the second part the discussion is dedicated to poverty, in particular, to how the Human Sciences have changed their conception over this phenomenon. Still in this part of the study the Brazilian case is commented and the pro-poor growth methodology is presented as a tool of analysis. At last, in the third part, a NEG model, based on Hanson (1999), and the pro-poor growth methodology are tested taking counties of the Brazilian South Region as the unity of analysis. The goal is to verify the validity of NEG principles to the data and model being tested. Besides, the other goal is to check on the quality of economic growth in the region from 1991 to 2000. The NEG tests results weren’t much significant, disqualifying strong affirmatives. On the other hand, the pro-poor analysis showed interesting results: the largest cities of the region had all positive but concentrating growth of income. Such pattern should be latterly investigated to better comprehend links of agglomeration and poverty.

A pobreza, em seus aspectos sócio-econômicos, deve ser analisada considerando a ordem de ocupação geográfica, que o modo de vida da população impõe. Na primeira etapa deste trabalho a Nova Geografia Econômica (NGE) é apresentada como um modelo de compreensão desta ordem. Neste modelo, escala, proximidade e liberdade econômica são elementos fundamentais para explicar pujança ou estagnação econômica. A partir desta compreensão, na segunda etapa do trabalho discute-se sobre a pobreza, em particular sobre a mudança de concepção sobre esta para as Ciências Humanas em geral. Ainda nesta etapa comenta-se o caso brasileiro e propõe-se a metodologia do crescimento pró-pobre como uma metodologia aplicável de análise. Por fim, na última parte do trabalho são utilizados dados dos municípios da Região Sul do Brasil e se procede a aplicação de um modelo da NGE, baseando em Hanson (1999) e também faz-se análise do crescimento pró-pobre para todos os municípios da mesma região. O objetivo destes testes é verificar se a validade dos pressupostos da NGE para conforme os dados e o modelo utilizado e também verificar qual a qualidade do crescimento na Região no período entre 1991 e 2000. Os resultados dos testes do modelo da NGE não foram muito significativos, prejudicando conclusões afirmativas. Por outro lado, a análise do crescimento pró-pobre mostrou resultados interessantes: as grandes cidades da região apresentaram crescimento positivo da renda com concentração. Este padrão é um indício a ser investigado mais profundamente para compreender as ligações entre aglomerações e pobreza. / Poverty, in its social and economic aspects, should be analyzed taking into consideration the geographical order that the population’s way of life imposes. In the first part of this study, the New Economic Geography (NEG) is presented as a model to comprehend such order. In its principles, scale, proximity and economic freedom are fundamental to explain boost or stagnation. After that, the second part the discussion is dedicated to poverty, in particular, to how the Human Sciences have changed their conception over this phenomenon. Still in this part of the study the Brazilian case is commented and the pro-poor growth methodology is presented as a tool of analysis. At last, in the third part, a NEG model, based on Hanson (1999), and the pro-poor growth methodology are tested taking counties of the Brazilian South Region as the unity of analysis. The goal is to verify the validity of NEG principles to the data and model being tested. Besides, the other goal is to check on the quality of economic growth in the region from 1991 to 2000. The NEG tests results weren’t much significant, disqualifying strong affirmatives. On the other hand, the pro-poor analysis showed interesting results: the largest cities of the region had all positive but concentrating growth of income. Such pattern should be latterly investigated to better comprehend links of agglomeration and poverty.

A pobreza, em seus aspectos sócio-econômicos, deve ser analisada considerando a ordem de ocupação geográfica, que o modo de vida da população impõe. Na primeira etapa deste trabalho a Nova Geografia Econômica (NGE) é apresentada como um modelo de compreensão desta ordem. Neste modelo, escala, proximidade e liberdade econômica são elementos fundamentais para explicar pujança ou estagnação econômica. A partir desta compreensão, na segunda etapa do trabalho discute-se sobre a pobreza, em particular sobre a mudança de concepção sobre esta para as Ciências Humanas em geral. Ainda nesta etapa comenta-se o caso brasileiro e propõe-se a metodologia do crescimento pró-pobre como uma metodologia aplicável de análise. Por fim, na última parte do trabalho são utilizados dados dos municípios da Região Sul do Brasil e se procede a aplicação de um modelo da NGE, baseando em Hanson (1999) e também faz-se análise do crescimento pró-pobre para todos os municípios da mesma região. O objetivo destes testes é verificar se a validade dos pressupostos da NGE para conforme os dados e o modelo utilizado e também verificar qual a qualidade do crescimento na Região no período entre 1991 e 2000. Os resultados dos testes do modelo da NGE não foram muito significativos, prejudicando conclusões afirmativas. Por outro lado, a análise do crescimento pró-pobre mostrou resultados interessantes: as grandes cidades da região apresentaram crescimento positivo da renda com concentração. Este padrão é um indício a ser investigado mais profundamente para compreender as ligações entre aglomerações e pobreza. / Poverty, in its social and economic aspects, should be analyzed taking into consideration the geographical order that the population’s way of life imposes. In the first part of this study, the New Economic Geography (NEG) is presented as a model to comprehend such order. In its principles, scale, proximity and economic freedom are fundamental to explain boost or stagnation. After that, the second part the discussion is dedicated to poverty, in particular, to how the Human Sciences have changed their conception over this phenomenon. Still in this part of the study the Brazilian case is commented and the pro-poor growth methodology is presented as a tool of analysis. At last, in the third part, a NEG model, based on Hanson (1999), and the pro-poor growth methodology are tested taking counties of the Brazilian South Region as the unity of analysis. The goal is to verify the validity of NEG principles to the data and model being tested. Besides, the other goal is to check on the quality of economic growth in the region from 1991 to 2000. The NEG tests results weren’t much significant, disqualifying strong affirmatives. On the other hand, the pro-poor analysis showed interesting results: the largest cities of the region had all positive but concentrating growth of income. Such pattern should be latterly investigated to better comprehend links of agglomeration and poverty.