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AbstractThe authors illustrate how notions of poverty are constructed around specific 'memes', or replicating units of cultural information, around which concepts and ideas develop and change. Three 'memes' characterising definitions of poverty over the previous years were identified: 'basic needs', 'multidimensional' and 'deprivation'. The analysis illustrated the semantic space in which each term was utilised and to the extent it changed and modified over time by different actors. The results revealed how 'memes' compete with one another across the discourse. Within this competition, older concepts are almost never fully abandoned, but rather repackaged and reutilised. Thus, new definitions of poverty are less innovative than portrayed in the wider literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Book Review of Rank, Mark Robert, Lawrence M. Eppard, and Heather E. Bullock, Poorly Understood: What America Gets Wrong About Poverty.

The enactment of India's historic livelihood guarantee programme in the form of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) has been coterminous with a phase of rapid decline in India's rural poverty rates. This naturally motivates the question as to whether the observed decline in rural poverty can be attributed, at least partly, to efficient targeting and implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). This study underscores the fact that the welfare impact of anti-poverty programmes such as the MNREGS is critically dependent on whether these programmes actually reach the intended beneficiaries. Using the unit-level data from the 68th round of the NSSO survey on Employment and Unemployment, the article first investigates the possible 'capture' of the MNREGS at the national and also at the state levels and the consequent 'crowding out' of asset poor rural households. Statistical analysis of household data reveals that although at the national level, the scheme seems to be predominantly directed towards the poor, considerable variations exist among states. After correcting for confounders in treatment and control groups, the study finds that access to MNREGS employment significantly lowers the probability of a rural household of falling in the poverty trap. The article, therefore, concludes that the scheme has the potential of favourably impacting and protecting consumption standards among rural poor. Maximisation of this potential, however, would depend upon proper identification of needy households and rooting out of the pseudo-poor from the ambit of the programme.

Since it began, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a number of challenges on Africa and the rest of the world. Following the recommendations of the World Health Organization, many countries imposed social distancing measures and cancelled non-essential activities in order to contain the spread of the virus, reduce the infection rate, and ease the pressure on the health system. The literature shows that observance of these measures is based on trust in the government and the rest of society, trust in health policies, belief and trust in science, individual risk perception, and expectations regarding the duration of the restrictions. In this study, we have joined the new and growing body of literature by asking how trust in 18 African countries shapes commitment to the measures set out above. The results show that people's trust in public institutions reinforces the effect of the measures. On the other hand, poverty and trust between people weaken the measures, and the latter can even cancel out the measures' effect.

This article examines the role of household poverty in shaping rural female labour supply using the unique panel dataset of India Human Development Survey. The results using Vella and Verbeek's two-step panel estimation reveal the presence of a backward-sloping labour supply curve for rural women from below poverty line households, and an upward-sloping labour supply for rural women from above poverty line (APL) households. This implies the existence of 'forced' or 'need-based' participation among poor women and justifies why they work long hours in poorly paid hazardous jobs. The article also finds horizontal labour supply among agriculture wage workers and for Adivasi and Dalit rural women to some extent, reflecting limited job options, and surplus unskilled labour who are unable to demand higher wages for their labour supply. On the other hand, when categorised by occupation type, the downward-sloping labour supply for rural women from APL households indicates the dominance of the income effect over the substitution effect, and the socio-cultural factors that gain strength as income levels increase. JEL Classification: J220, R21, J16, R230, I32

1. Things by which one measures one's life. Wealth and poverty in European rural societies / Anton Schuurman -- 2. Economic and cultural differentiation among the Late Medieval and early modern Danish peasantry / Bjørn Poulsen -- 3. Living conditions in the houses of the islands of the Cyclades during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries / Dimitris Dimitropoulos -- 4. The material culture in South Bohemian rural society in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries / Josef Grulich -- 5. The standard of living and culture of the clergy in the Prague diocese, c. 1700-1730 / Marie Ryantová -- 6. Class versus consumption and consumption versus class : the role of consumption in processes of upward social mobility in pre-industrial Catalonia / Belén Moreno Claverías -- 7. Fashion, consumption, and material culture in a rural town in the region of the Great Hungarian Plain (Kiskunhalas), 1760-1850 / Péter Granaszatoi -- 8. Material culture, quality of life and property regime in the countryside around Liège from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century / Paul Servais -- 9. The parish and the poor in England, 1600-1850 / John Broad -- 10. Material culture and the circulation of goods in the early modern period / Laurence Fontaine -- 11. Rural consumer behaviour and the new orthodoxy. Some qualifying observations / Anton Schuurman

The structural situation of the 21st century in the world system is expressed as "globalization". This situation has a wide range of influence from state administration to politics, from economic operation to social development. When any element on the world scale is studied scientifically, the effects and consequences of the phenomenon of globalization must be taken into account. The International Political Economy (UPI), which has recently emerged from an important subdivision of the international economic sciences into an almost independent field, is predominantly examining the effects and consequences of the phenomenon of globalization. Based on the examination of state policies and the interaction of the global economy, UPI is the main axis of this work. Income inequality, one of the drawbacks of the globalization process, and poverty, which has become a chronic problem, constitute one of the main issues of UPI. In this study, the effects of taxation on poverty, which is one of the most important of state policies, have been studied in the context of UPI. ; The structural situation of the 21st century in the world system is expressed as "globalization". This situation has a wide range of influence from state administration to politics, from economic operation to social development. When any element on the world scale is studied scientifically, the effects and consequences of the phenomenon of globalization must be taken into account. The International Political Economy (UPI), which has recently emerged from an important subdivision of the international economic sciences into an almost independent field, is predominantly examining the effects and consequences of the phenomenon of globalization. Based on the examination of state policies and the interaction of the global economy, UPI is the main axis of this work. Income inequality, one of the drawbacks of the globalization process, and poverty, which has become a chronic problem, constitute one of the main issues of UPI. In this study, the effects of taxation on poverty, which is one of the most important of state policies, have been studied in the context of UPI.

This report provides an overview of the key issues emerging from the consultations and is intended to serve as a basis for discussion of their potential implications for the poverty reduction strategy being prepared by the Bank. For each country, a summary analysis was also produced, copies of which are available from the Social Development Division of the Office of Environment and Social Development of the Bank.

This report provides an overview of the key issues emerging from the consultations and is intended to serve as a basis for discussion of their potential implications for the poverty reduction strategy being prepared by the Bank. For each country, a summary analysis was also produced, copies of which are available from the Social Development Division of the Office of Environment and Social Development of the Bank.

This paper summarizes evidence on six perceptions associated with cash transfer programming, using eight rigorous evaluations conducted on large-scale government unconditional cash transfers in sub-Saharan Africa under the Transfer Project. Specifically, it investigates if transfers: 1) induce higher spending on alcohol or tobacco; 2) are fully consumed (rather than invested); 3) create dependency (reduce participation in productive activities); 4) increase fertility; 5) lead to negative community-level economic impacts (including price distortion and inflation); and 6) are fiscally unsustainable. The paper presents evidence refuting each claim, leading to the conclusion that these perceptions—insofar as they are utilized in policy debates—undercut potential improvements in well-being and livelihood strengthening among the poor, which these programs can bring about in sub-Saharan Africa, and globally. It concludes by underscoring outstanding research gaps and policy implications for the continued expansion of unconditional cash transfers in the region and beyond.

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the War on Poverty. The Legal Services Program of 1965, along with the Legal Services Corporation formed in 1974, considerably increased civil legal aid to America's poor. Yet today, there is only one legal aid attorney for every 6,415 people living in poverty. Veterans, comprising 4.6% of those living in poverty, often suffer additional obstacles and extensive legal needs, including assistance in obtaining benefits to which they are entitled. While encouraging additional pro bono service among attorneys incrementally increases the availability of legal services to the poor, law school clinics across the country enroll students eager to address the legal needs of the poor. A concerted effort by law schools and higher education institutions to provide legal services to veterans in particular will foster a greater sense of social responsibility towards the men and women who served our country and will make significant strides toward equal access to justice for our nation's underserved poor.