Moving Out of Poverty

Deepa Narayan

Description

'No matter if I fall, I get up again. If I fall 5,000 times, I will stand up another 5,000 times.'
-- William, a 37-year-old from El Gorrión, Colombia
Why and how do some people move out of poverty-and stay out-while others remain trapped? Most books on growth and poverty reduction are dominated by the perspectives of policy makers and academic experts. In contrast, 'Moving Out of Poverty: Success from the Bottom Up' presents the experiences of poor people who have made it out of poverty. The book's findings draw from the Moving Out of Poverty research conducted in communities in 15 countries in Africa, East Asia, Latin America, and South Asia. The authors synthesize the results of qualitative and quantitative research based on discussions with over 60,000 people in rural areas. They offer bottom-up perspectives on the processes and local institutions that play key roles in escapes from poverty.
The study finds that there are no differences in the initiatives taken by the poor, the rich, and the upwardly mobile. What, then, explains the difference in outcomes? The authors demonstrate how-in the face of deep social inequalities that block access to economic opportunities and local democracies-individual initiative and empowerment by themselves are often not enough to escape poverty.
This book will be of interest to all concerned with equity in an increasingly unequal world.

Sujets

• Poverty reduction

Informations

• Publié par: world-bank-publications
• Publié le: 25 mars 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 25
• EAN13: 9780821372166
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

“This book...is an important resource for everyone who is
working to alleviate poverty.” — Former President Bill Clinton
Success from
the Bottom Up
Deepa Narayan
Lant Pritchett
and Soumya KapoorMOVING OUT OF POVERTY, VOLUME 2
Success from the Bottom UpAbout the Series
The Moving Out of Poverty series presents the results of new comparative
research across more than 500 communities in 15 countries on how and
why poor people move out of poverty. The findings lay the foundations for
new policies that will promote inclusive growth and just societies, and move
millions out of poverty.
The series was launched in 2007 under the editorial direction of Deepa
Narayan, former senior adviser in the World Bank. She earlier directed the
pathbreaking Voices of the Poor project.
Titles in the Moving Out of Poverty series:
Volume 1 Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Mobility
V2 Success from the Bottom Up
Volume 3 The Promise of Empowerment and Democracy in India
(forthcoming)
Volume 4 Rising from the Ashes of Conflict (forthcoming)Moving
Out of
Poverty
VOLUME 2
Success from the Bottom Up
Deepa Narayan,
Lant Pritchett, and
Soumya Kapoor
A COPUBLICATION OF PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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ISBN: 978-0-8213-7215-9 (softcover) eISBN: 978-0-8213-7216-6 (softcover)13-7836-6 (hardcover) DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-7215-9
ISSN: None
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
Cover design: Drew Fasick
Cover photograph: Brice Richard
Printed in the United StatesDedication
To the thousands of women, men, and youths who took the time
to share with us their experiences, their hopes, and their dreams
and
To Charles Tilly (1929–2008)—adviser, guide, and friendContents
Foreword xiii
Study Team and Acknowledgments xv
About the Authors xix
Abbreviations xxi
1 The Moving Out of Poverty Study: An Overview 2
2 Stories of the Poor, Stories by the Poor 50
3 Poverty Is a Condition, Not a Characteristic 86
4 I Believe I Can 126
5 The Dream of Equal Opportunity 180
6 All Politics Is Local: How Better Governance Helps the Poor 222
7 The Unfulfilled Potential of Collective Action 280
8 Concluding Reflections 332
Appendix 1 Researchers and Institutions Involved
in Country Studies 343
Appendix 2 Technical Note on Household Regressions 349
Appendix 3 Data Collection Methods 369
Appendix 4 List of Variables for Household Regressions 375
Appendix 5 Weights for the PCA-Constructed Indexes,
by Study Region 379
Appendix 6 Regression Results Tables for MOP and MPI 387
References 399
Index 411
Tables
1.1 Sample ladders of life from two villages in Andhra Pradesh
and Uganda 14
viiviii Contents
2.1 All villages in Afghanistan report hard work as a factor in moving
out of poverty 60
2.2 Movers in India take more initiative, but chronic poor take about
as much initiative as never poor 66
3.1 Over half of households moved up or down at least one step on the
ladder of life over 10 years 93
3.2 Movements up and out of poverty are only one part of overall
poverty dynamics 97
3.3 Various measures of well-being dynamics are associated with local
(village-level) factors in four states of India 117
A3.4 On average, the poor and nonpoor in the same villages moved up
together across study regions 122
4.1 Poor people distinguish four different types of power 132
4.2 Path deviation in youth: Youths whose parents are in agriculture
or the informal sector want to do something else (start a business,
get a job) 156
6.1 People in study communities in Malawi associate democracy first
and foremost with freedom 230
6.2 Economic opportunities can create positive spillovers 270
7.1 Migration and multiple hands at work trigger upward movement
in Mexico 288
7.2 Collective entities replicate some but not all characteristics of
successful families 297
A.1 Countries in the MOP study stratified by income, growth,
and governance 351
A.2 Choosing locations within study regions 352
A.3 Desired distribution of households across mobility groups 356
Figures
1.1 More than half of all households were classified as poor in 2005 16
1.2 Movers most frequently cite initiatives as reasons for their move
out of poverty 20
1.3 Gambling, drugs, and alcohol are rarely cited as reasons for falling 21
1.4 The never poor and movers score themselves higher in power
and rights 27
1.5 Communities where governments became more responsive were
likely to report increased presence of services over last 10 years 35
1.6 Families are rated the most important institution for asset
accumulation by all mobility groups in Indian study regions 40
1.7 Collective action helps people cope in Bufkaro, Uganda 44
1.8 Initiative and opportunity interact to produce upward movement 46