A Counterfactual Analysis of the Poverty Impact of Economic Growth in Cameroon

The Government of Cameroon has declared poverty reduction through strong and sustainable economic growth the central objective of its socioeconomic policy. This paper uses available household survey data to assess the performance of the economy wit...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Essama-Nssah, B., Bassole, Leandre
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE REDUCTION ABSOLUTE SENSE ABSOLUTE TERMS ABSOLUTE VALUE ADVERSE EFFECTS AGGREGATE POVERTY AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL SECTOR ANNUAL GROWTH ANNUAL GROWTH RATE AVERAGE ANNUAL AVERAGE GROWTH AVERAGE GROWTH RATE AVERAGE RATE BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY CHANGES IN POVERTY CHILD MORTALITY COMMUNITY ASSETS COUNTERFACTUAL CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION CUMULATIVE POPULATION CURRENT POVERTY DATA ISSUES DEBT RELIEF DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY MEASURES DECOMPOSITION ANALYSIS DECREASING FUNCTION DENSITY FUNCTION DEPENDENT VARIABLE DETERMINANTS OF POVERTY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS DEVELOPMENT GOALS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DEVELOPMENT REPORT DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION DISTRIBUTIONAL CHANGES DISTRIBUTIONAL IMPLICATIONS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC POLICY EMPIRICAL RESULTS EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY EXCHANGE RATE EXPORT MARKETS EXPORT PRICE INDEX EXTREME POVERTY FOOD COMPONENTS FOOD CROPS FOOD EXPENDITURE GENDER EQUITY GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODEL GINI COEFFICIENT GINI INDEX GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP GROUP MEANS GROWTH COMPONENT GROWTH EFFECT GROWTH ELASTICITY GROWTH EPISODE GROWTH PATTERN GROWTH PRO-POOR GROWTH PROCESS GROWTH PROSPECTS HEADCOUNT POVERTY HEADCOUNT RATIO HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD INCOMES HOUSEHOLD LEVEL DATA HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HUMAN CAPITAL INCIDENCE OF POVERTY INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS INCOME EFFECT INCOME ELASTICITY INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME SHARE INCREASING INEQUALITY INEQUALITY INEQUALITY AVERSION INEQUALITY COMPONENT INEQUALITY EFFECT JOB CREATION LABOR FORCE LAND OWNERSHIP LINEAR RELATIONSHIP LIVING STANDARDS MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MARGINAL EFFECT MATERNAL HEALTH MEAN INCOME MEAN LOG DEVIATION NATIONAL POVERTY NEGATIVE EFFECT NEGATIVE IMPACT NEGATIVE SIGN OBSERVED CHANGE OBSERVED CHANGES PATH DEPENDENCE PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE PER CAPITA INCOME POLICY ENVIRONMENT POLICY REFORMS POLICY RESEARCH POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL STABILITY POOR POOR COUNTRIES POOR ECONOMIC GROWTH POOR HOUSEHOLDS POOR INFRASTRUCTURE POPULATION SHARE POSITIVE EFFECT POSITIVE GROWTH POSITIVE IMPACT POVERTY ANALYSIS POVERTY CHANGES POVERTY GAP POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY INCIDENCE POVERTY INDEX POVERTY INDICES POVERTY LEVELS POVERTY LINE POVERTY MEASURE POVERTY MEASURES POVERTY OUTCOMES POVERTY RATES POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY PAPER POVERTY-REDUCING GROWTH PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIVATE SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYMENT PRO-POOR PRO-POOR GROWTH PUBLIC INVESTMENT PUBLIC SECTOR PUBLIC SPENDING PURE GROWTH PURE GROWTH EFFECT QUANTILE REGRESSIONS RAPID GROWTH REAL GROWTH REAL INCOME REDUCTION IN POVERTY REGIONAL DIFFERENCES REGIONAL DISPARITY REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION REGIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS REGIONAL INEQUALITY REGIONAL LEVEL REGIONAL POVERTY REGRESSION ANALYSIS REGRESSION RESULTS RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION RELATIVE INEQUALITY RELATIVE POVERTY RURAL RURAL AREA RURAL AREAS RURAL COUNTERPARTS RURAL DIFFERENCES RURAL GAP RURAL INEQUALITY RURAL POVERTY RURAL SECTOR SCHOOLING SECTOR EMPLOYMENT SHARP REDUCTION SIGNIFICANT EFFECT SIGNIFICANT IMPACT SMALLHOLDER AGRICULTURE SQUARED POVERTY GAP STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT TRADE SHOCKS URBAN AREAS URBAN POVERTY WELFARE INDICATOR
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100325082829 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3736

Description
Summary:	The Government of Cameroon has declared poverty reduction through strong and sustainable economic growth the central objective of its socioeconomic policy. This paper uses available household survey data to assess the performance of the economy with respect to this objective over the period 1996-2007. The authors use counterfactual decompositions based on both the Shapley method and the generalized Oaxaca-Blinder framework to identify proximate factors that might explain differences in observed outcomes over time, across regions and households. The concept of pro-poorness provides a basis for a normative evaluation of these outcomes. The analysis of changes in the size distribution of economic welfare reveals that formal sector employment, access to credit, education, and urban residence are characteristics that bring significantly high returns to households. Employment in smallholder agriculture has a negative impact on welfare across quantiles. Economic growth was accompanied by significant poverty reduction between 1996 and 2001. But poverty barely decreased between 2001 and 2007 due to very weak growth. Over the same period, household investment in human capital took a serious hit. Given the additional finding that the pattern of growth is characterized by urban bias and regional disparity, the overall assessment is that economic growth has been weakly pro-poor in Cameroon. There is therefore a need to re-examine and possibly reform the mechanisms governing the allocation of public resources designed to support individuals' efforts to improve their standard of living.

A Counterfactual Analysis of the Poverty Impact of Economic Growth in Cameroon

Similar Items