Growth (But Not Only) Is Good for the Poor : Some Cross-Country Evidence to Promote Growth and Shared Prosperity in Haiti

Many low-income countries, such as Haiti, have high ambitions and socioeconomic needs to achieve substantial income growth, especially for the poorest income quintiles. This situation raises the question of policy prioritization, which is often dif...

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Main Authors: Antoine, Kassia, Singh, Raju Jan, Wacker, Konstantin M.
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/225341487259094529/Growth-but-not-only-is-good-for-the-poor-some-cross-country-evidence-to-promote-growth-and-shared-prosperity-in-Haiti
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26142
id okr-10986-26142
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-261422021-06-08T14:42:47Z Growth (But Not Only) Is Good for the Poor : Some Cross-Country Evidence to Promote Growth and Shared Prosperity in Haiti Antoine, Kassia Singh, Raju Jan Wacker, Konstantin M. shared prosperity economic growth poverty reduction inequality education infrastructure macroeconomic stability panel data income distribution low-income country income drivers Many low-income countries, such as Haiti, have high ambitions and socioeconomic needs to achieve substantial income growth, especially for the poorest income quintiles. This situation raises the question of policy prioritization, which is often difficult to address, since reliable country-specific micro data are scarce in most low-income countries. Although many studies have investigated the determinants of growth of gross domestic product, less is known about the factors influencing household incomes at the lowest segments of the income distribution. Focusing on the specific case of Haiti, a country with one of the lowest income levels, this paper proposes an approach to handle this challenge: it estimates income drivers for the poorest two income quintiles from cross-country regressions. The results suggest that maintaining macroeconomic stability as well as investing in human and physical capital would not only be associated with faster overall economic growth, but also with even faster income growth for the poorest segments of the population. Thus, there need not be a trade-off between inequality and growth. Economies could foster faster growth while also increasing inclusiveness, ensuring that everyone can live up to their potential. 2017-02-22T22:53:11Z 2017-02-22T22:53:11Z 2017-02 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/225341487259094529/Growth-but-not-only-is-good-for-the-poor-some-cross-country-evidence-to-promote-growth-and-shared-prosperity-in-Haiti http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26142 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7975 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Latin America & Caribbean Haiti
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic shared prosperity
economic growth
poverty reduction
inequality
education
infrastructure
macroeconomic stability
panel data
income distribution
low-income country
income drivers
spellingShingle shared prosperity
economic growth
poverty reduction
inequality
education
infrastructure
macroeconomic stability
panel data
income distribution
low-income country
income drivers
Antoine, Kassia
Singh, Raju Jan
Wacker, Konstantin M.
Growth (But Not Only) Is Good for the Poor : Some Cross-Country Evidence to Promote Growth and Shared Prosperity in Haiti
geographic_facet Latin America & Caribbean
Haiti
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7975
description Many low-income countries, such as Haiti, have high ambitions and socioeconomic needs to achieve substantial income growth, especially for the poorest income quintiles. This situation raises the question of policy prioritization, which is often difficult to address, since reliable country-specific micro data are scarce in most low-income countries. Although many studies have investigated the determinants of growth of gross domestic product, less is known about the factors influencing household incomes at the lowest segments of the income distribution. Focusing on the specific case of Haiti, a country with one of the lowest income levels, this paper proposes an approach to handle this challenge: it estimates income drivers for the poorest two income quintiles from cross-country regressions. The results suggest that maintaining macroeconomic stability as well as investing in human and physical capital would not only be associated with faster overall economic growth, but also with even faster income growth for the poorest segments of the population. Thus, there need not be a trade-off between inequality and growth. Economies could foster faster growth while also increasing inclusiveness, ensuring that everyone can live up to their potential.
format Working Paper
author Antoine, Kassia
Singh, Raju Jan
Wacker, Konstantin M.
author_facet Antoine, Kassia
Singh, Raju Jan
Wacker, Konstantin M.
author_sort Antoine, Kassia
title Growth (But Not Only) Is Good for the Poor : Some Cross-Country Evidence to Promote Growth and Shared Prosperity in Haiti
title_short Growth (But Not Only) Is Good for the Poor : Some Cross-Country Evidence to Promote Growth and Shared Prosperity in Haiti
title_full Growth (But Not Only) Is Good for the Poor : Some Cross-Country Evidence to Promote Growth and Shared Prosperity in Haiti
title_fullStr Growth (But Not Only) Is Good for the Poor : Some Cross-Country Evidence to Promote Growth and Shared Prosperity in Haiti
title_full_unstemmed Growth (But Not Only) Is Good for the Poor : Some Cross-Country Evidence to Promote Growth and Shared Prosperity in Haiti
title_sort growth (but not only) is good for the poor : some cross-country evidence to promote growth and shared prosperity in haiti
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/225341487259094529/Growth-but-not-only-is-good-for-the-poor-some-cross-country-evidence-to-promote-growth-and-shared-prosperity-in-Haiti
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26142
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