Rapid economic growth and poverty decline: a comparison of Indonesia and Thailand 1981-1990

Anne Booth
Additional contact information
Anne Booth: SOAS, University of London, Postal: SOAS, University of London

Journal of International Development, 1997, vol. 9, issue 2, 169-187

Abstract: This paper contrasts the achievements of Indonesia and Thailand in reducing poverty through the 1980s. It is argued that estimates produced by the World Bank suggesting that the headcount incidence of poverty in Thailand in 1990 was higher than Indonesia were flawed because the poverty line used was not truly comparible. But there can be little doubt that the reduction in the headcount incidence of poverty was greater in Indonesia than in Thailand over the 1980s, as was the decline in the absolute numbers of poor people, even though rates of GDP growth were faster in Thailand. Three possible reasons for the superior performance of Indonesia are suggested: regional disparities in economic growth have been more pronounced in Thailand, the expansion of post-primary education has been very slow, and Indonesia was starting from a much higher incidence of poverty in 1980 than was Thailand. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Date: 1997
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:9:y:1997:i:2:p:169-187

DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(199703)9:2<169::AID-JID363>3.0.CO;2-G

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Development is currently edited by Paul Mosley and Hazel Johnson

More articles in Journal of International Development from John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().