Household welfare and poverty dynamics in Burkina Faso: empirical evidence from household surveys

Hippolyte Fofack, Celestin Monga and Hasan Tuluy

No 2590, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: The authors investigate the dynamics of poverty and income inequality in a cross-section of socio-economic groups and geographical regions over the five-year growth period following the 1994 devaluation of the CFA franc in Burkina Faso. Results show rapidly increasing urban poverty accompanied by rising income inequality, declining poverty -growth elasticities, and significant changes in the poverty map. In rural areas, the incidence of poverty remained the same and income inequality did not increase. In contrast, the distribution of welfare across socio-economic groups was more stable. The rank ordering of socioeconomic groups on the welfare scale did not change during the post-devaluation growth period. Poverty remains largely a rural phenomenon, whose inelastic nature may justify a shift toward growth-oriented policies that at least maintain the rural poor's share of income to reduce poverty in the medium term. Among factors that feed into income inequality: disparities in wages and in educational attainment and unequal access to productive assets (especially human capital).

Keywords: Economic Theory&Research; Environmental Economics&Policies; Services&Transfers to Poor; Economic Conditions and Volatility; Public Health Promotion; Achieving Shared Growth; Poverty Assessment; Environmental Economics&Policies; Rural Poverty Reduction; Safety Nets and Transfers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-04-30
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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