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Research Results |
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Egypt
Data from the Egypt Integrated Household Survey (EIHS) finds no significant differences in poverty rates across regions once differences in costs-of-living are taken into account. Conventional wisdom, which claims that major differences in poverty rates exist within Egypt, had ignored these spatial price differences. The impact of changes in food prices on wages has also been examined. In Egypt, a 10 percent increase in food prices increases nominal wages, but with a substantial lag. Only one-tenth of the increase is reflected in higher nominal wages after one year, about half by the end of year two, over two-thirds by year three, and about 90 percent by year five. So, although real wages do catch up, higher food prices lead to lower real wages in the short-run with obvious consequences for welfare. The EIHS data also show that for a general food price subsidy, the Egyptian system targets the poor as well as or better than comparable general subsidies in other countries. This is due to the general subsidy being applied to an income-inelastic good, namely wheat flour and baladi bread. However, the top per capita income quintile of the population captures almost 20 percent of the food subsidy; hence, compared to an administratively targeted subsidy, the general food subsidy does not do well in targeting the poor.
Honduras
A study in Honduras of the usefulness of informant rating methods to identify food insecure households found that different individual raters rarely agreed with each other as to whether particular households in their community were food secure, insecure, or intermittently insecure. The study was carried out among small farmers belonging to organized groups of no more than 35 families, all of whom, it was summized, would be very familiar with each others' living conditions. Women were markedly more likely than men to classify a given family as "insecure." These results suggest that considerable caution should be exercised in using informant rating methods to identify families at risk.
India
This study examined the factors that have led to reductions in poverty in India between 1957 and 1991. Drawing on state-level data, differing initial conditions were found to be of importance. States that started with better infrastructure and human resources saw significantly higher long-term rates of poverty reduction. Growth rates in farm yield per hectare also contribute to poverty reduction. Deviations from the trend reduction in poverty can be attributed to inflation--which hurts the poor in the short term--and shocks to farm and nonfarm output.
Mozambique
A study of the GAPVU program in Mozambique concluded that cash transfers appear to have contributed to the reduction of poverty among its beneficiaries. The program was also found to be progressive among the beneficiary population. However, about 30 percent of transfers leaks to the nonpoor and the means testing of beneficiaries' income has been largely ignored in practice.
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