Given a poverty line, a person who is non-poor (poor) currently may not be treated as non-poor (poor) in a vulnerable situation. This paper looks at the impact of vulnerability on the poverty line. The poverty line is adjusted in the presence of vulnerability such that the utility of a person at...

Income distribution is perceived to affect crime (Becker 1968; Thurow 1971; Merlo 2003). Consequently, economists have been modeling crime-employing inequality indicators as one of the explanatory variables, yielding mixed results. This paper argues that income polarization rather than inequality should...

There are alternative definitions of vulnerability to poverty. Most researchers prefer to define vulnerability as the probability of a household or individual falling into poverty in the future. Based on this definition and using household survey panel data from rural China, this paper attempt...

Poverty reduction in the Asia and the Pacific region in 2005-2008 had been quite significant. Despite the global crisis, an estimated 150 million people exited extreme poverty by 2008 - from 903.4 million in 2005 to 753.5 million, bringing the percentage of people living under the $1.25 per day...

The global economic recession is severely affecting Asian economies. Timely assessment of the economic and social impacts is critical to the formulation and implementation of policy responses. This paper presents a simple methodology of ex ante impact assessment, focusing specifically on how the...

This paper synthesizes factors that could contribute to the failure of basic service delivery to the poor. It also highlights successful projects and good practices from developing Asian countries which may help promote inclusiveness in providing basic social services in developing countries....

1. Patterns and Trends of Urbanization and Urban Growth in Asia -- 2. Examining the interdependencies between urbanization, internal migration, urban poverty and inequality: Evidence from Indonesia -- 3. Rural–urban migration, urban poverty, inequality and urbanization in the People’s...

Poverty reduction in the Asia and the Pacific region in 2005-2008 had been quite significant. Despite the global crisis, an estimated 150 million people exited extreme poverty by 2008 – from 903.4 million in 2005 to 753.5 million, bringing the percentage of people living under the $1.25 per...

This paper focuses on methodological and empirical issues in analyzing regional poverty and inequality trends in China. It provides a time profile of China's regional inequality, outlines the latest development in inequality decomposition techniques, introduces six papers in this special issue...