Growth and Poverty in Burkina Faso. A Reassessment of the Paradox

Michael Grimm and Isabel Gunther

No DT/2005/07, Working Papers from DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation)

Abstract: Previous poverty assessments for Burkina Faso were biased due to the neglect of some important methodological issues. This led to the so-called ‘Burkinabè Growth-Poverty-Paradox’, i.e. relatively sustained macro-economic growth, but almost constant poverty. We estimate that poverty significantly decreased between 1994 and 2003 at least on the national level, i.e. growth was in contrast to what previous poverty estimates suggested ‘pro-poor’. However, we also demonstrate that between 1994 and 1998 poverty indeed increased despite a good macro-economic performance. This was due to a severe drought and a resulting profound deterioration of the purchasing power of the poor; an issue which was also overseen by previous studies. _________________________________ Les analyses existantes du développement de la pauvreté en Burkina Faso ont été biaisées par l’ignorance d’aspects méthodologiques importants. Ces biais ont conduit à un paradoxe de croissance et pauvreté, c'est-à-dire une situation où une croissance macro-économique relativement soutenue n’était pas accompagnée d’une réduction de la pauvreté. Au contraire, nous estimons que la pauvreté a diminué significativement entre 1994 et 2003 au moins au niveau national, c'est-à-dire que la croissance a été, contrairement à ce que les analyses auparavant ont suggéré, ‘pro-poor’. Cependant, nous montrons également qu’entre 1994 et 1998 la pauvreté a effectivement augmenté malgré la performance macro-économique favorable. Cela a été dû à une sécheresse sévère et à une détérioration importante du pouvoir d’achat des pauvres. Cet aspect a été ignoré par les analyses précédentes.

Keywords: Poverty; Pro-poor Growth; Differential Inflation; Burkina Faso; Pauvreté; Croissance en faveur des pauvres; Inflation différentielle. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D63 I32 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005-07
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Related works:
Journal Article: Growth and Poverty in Burkina Faso: A Reassessment of the Paradox (2007)
Working Paper: Growth and Poverty in Burkina Faso. A Reassessment of the Paradox (2007)
Working Paper: Growth and Poverty in Burkina Faso: A Reassessment of the Paradox (2005)
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