Inflation and the poor

William Easterly and Stanley Fischer

No 2335, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Using polling data for 31,869 households in 38 countries, and allowing for country effects, the authors show that the poor are more likely than the rich to mention inflation as a top national concern. This result survives several robustness checks. Also, direct measures of improvements in well-being for the poor - the change in their share of national income, the percentage decline in poverty, and the percentage change in the real minimum wage - are negatively correlated with inflation in pooled cross-country samples. High inflation tends to lower the share of the bottom quintile and the real minimum wage - and tends to increase poverty.

Keywords: Economic Theory&Research; Environmental Economics&Policies; Economic Conditions and Volatility; Payment Systems&Infrastructure; Health Indicators; Inflation; Environmental Economics&Policies; Economic Theory&Research; Economic Conditions and Volatility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000-05-31
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (32)

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Journal Article: Inflation and the Poor (2001)
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