Summary This paper uses new poverty data based on household level surveys to analyze changes in rural poverty and rural-urban poverty differences in 23 transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The paper presents a series of hypotheses to explain differences...

Summary This paper investigates the role of media and monitoring in reducing capture. We analyze data on capture of public expenditures by local officials in Madagascar. Our findings indicate important constraints on decentralization of public service delivery, in particular in remote areas....

Summary In the debate on trade and poverty it is argued that standards act as trade barriers and cause marginalization of the poor. This paper quantifies income and poverty effects of high-standards trade and integrates labor market effects, by using company and household survey data from the...

This paper studies the political economy of relief allocation using evidence from aid programs after cyclone Gafilo hit Madagascar in 2004. Relief was provided by the government as well as local and international aid agencies. Aid was more likely in areas with a higher need for relief, in more...

Summary The combination of transition and globalization since the early 1990s has caused dramatic changes in the dairy chains in Central and Eastern Europe. This paper uses survey evidence from several Central and East European countries to document the growth of vertical coordination in the...

Summary This article introduces this special issue on the rapid transformation of the agrifood industry in developing countries and its effects on small farmers. We review the literature from the late 1980s to the present and find evidence first of food processing then retail transformation, and...

Summary Global retail companies ("supermarkets") have an increasing influence on developing countries, through foreign investments and/or through the imposition of their private standards. The impact on developing countries and poverty is often assessed as negative. In this paper we show the...