he measurement of per capita daily expenditures relative to a monetary poverty line, also known as ?sophisticated means testing?, is the most widely used approach to poverty assessment. However, it is reliant on the implementation of time- and cost-intensive household surveys. Hence, for...

During 2005-2006, appreciation of the Kwacha, Zambia?s currency, had a significant negative impact on public income. This exchange-rate effect received little notice in the debate over macroeconomic policy. The appreciation reduced fiscal space largely because of binding IMF conditionalities on...

¿Cuál es el nivel de pobreza de ingresos en América Latina? ¿Ha estado disminuyendo? ¿Son fiables las estimaciones actuales? El enfoque más influyente para medir la pobreza de ingresos a nivel regional y mundial es él utilizado por el Banco Mundial, que establece líneas internacionales...

African economies are growing. Between 2000 and 2007, GDP growth for the whole region averaged 4.4 per cent. Five countries managed to grow by more than 7 per cent. This magical number is often used as a benchmark for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In another 14...

In 2007, emulating the Mexican experience, Mayor Bloomberg decided that New York City should also have its own conditional cash transfer programme (CCT). He named the programme Opportunity NYC after the Mexican Oportunidades. Is Opportunity NYC just one more CCT in the plethora of existing...

Few things are as important for development as the availability of data and unfettered access. Without data there can be no needs assessment. It will scarcely be possible to design effective policies or to implement, monitor and evaluate them. Data are not important only for governments....