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Growth is Failing the Poor: The Unbalanced Distribution of the Benefits and Costs of Global Economic Growth

David Woodward and Andrew Simms

Working Papers from United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs

Abstract: During 1990-2001, only 0.6 per cent of additional global income per capita contributed to reducing poverty below the $1-a-day line, down from 2.2 per cent during 1981-1990, and barely half the poor’s share of global income. Coupled with the constraints on global growth associated with climate change, and the disproportionately adverse net impact of climate change on the poor, this casts serious doubt on the dominant view that global growth should be the primary means of poverty reduction. Rather than growth, policies and the global economic system should focus directly on achieving social and environmental objectives.

Keywords: Economic growth; income distribution; world inequality; poverty; environment; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2006-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-ene and nep-pke
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:une:wpaper:20

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