Cape Verde shifted from a socialist to a capitalistic model in the late 1980s. This shift enabled the population to benefit from rapid economic growth, but concerns have been expressed about a potential increase in inequality. Two household surveys with consumption data implemented in 1988–89...

Rwanda is facing a severe electricity crisis. Higher demand and production cost as well as a reduction in revenues in real terms have led to large operating losses for the electricity operator Electrogaz. In order to deal with this crisis, a doubling of electricity tariffs was recently approved,...

This chapter was originally drafted in 2007 to inform the diagnostic of Liberia’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy. It is based on an analysis of the Core Welfare Questionnaire Indicator survey implemented in 2007 by Liberia’s Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services. The chapter...

This paper presents a basic profile and analysis of the correlates of poverty in the Central African Republic using data from the Central African survey for the monitoring and evaluation of well-being conducted in 2008 by the Central African Institute of Statistics and Economic and Social...

The President and the Government of Liberia have placed a strategic priority on youth employment and have asked development partners for support in these areas. The Office of the President, the government, and development partners have undertaken over the last two years several steps to generate...

This paper provides a profile and an analysis of the correlates of poverty in the Republic of Congo using a 2005 household survey. Poverty affects more than half of the population, especially in peri-urban and rural areas. Perceptions of poverty as well as the correlates of poverty are also...

This paper analyzes the trend in, and determinants of poverty in Mali from 2001 and 2006. Thanks to strong economic growth, poverty has been reduced. Yet due to demographic growth, the number of the poor is still increasing. Households working in agriculture, especially in the cotton producing...

This paper provides comparable estimates of poverty in Senegal from 1994 to 20076 using household surveys (ESAM I, ESAM II, and ESPS). Nationally, the share of the population in poverty was reduced from 67.9% in 1994/95 to 57.1% in 2001/02, and finally 50.8% in 2005/06. Poverty was reduced more...

While Mexico's southern states differ substantially in terms of their migration profile, many of the issues confronted by the three states are the same. In this paper, we focus on five questions: (a) How large are migration flows, and what can be expected in the future?; (b) To what extent does...

Budget constraints faced by governments in developing countries imply that the targeting performance of public subsidies and social programs (whether the subsidies are provided in cash or in kind) is important for reducing poverty. In this paper, we analyze the distributional properties of the...