Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter?
While poverty reduction remains central in the Post-2015 Agenda, its determinants remain debated in the literature, especially the role of structural conditions related to governance. This paper provides an assessment of two key dimensions: the global adoption of MDGs and state capacity. We do so by...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2018
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| _version_ | 1825721873453809664 |
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| author | Asadullah, M. Niaz Savoia, Antonio |
| author_facet | Asadullah, M. Niaz Savoia, Antonio |
| author_sort | Asadullah, M. Niaz |
| collection | UM |
| description | While poverty reduction remains central in the Post-2015 Agenda, its determinants remain debated in the literature, especially the role of structural conditions related to governance. This paper provides an assessment of two key dimensions: the global adoption of MDGs and state capacity. We do so by studying whether they facilitated convergence in income poverty measures, using cross-section and panel methods, with data on 89 developing economies for the period 1990–2013. We find that poverty headcount and gap measures tended to decrease faster in countries with initially higher income poverty. Such convergence accelerated after 2000, suggesting that MDGs adoption was instrumental to poverty reduction. However, this still leaves unexplained substantial variation in poverty reduction performance across countries. Such variation is explained by state capacity: countries with greater ability to administer their territories in 1990 experienced faster income poverty reduction and were more likely to have achieved the MDG target. This result is insensitive to robust regression methods and to a large set of controls (initial level of income, dependence on natural resources, education and health inputs, dependence on foreign aid, ethnic fractionalization, regional effects and a set of governance variables). As good governance and effective institutions are included in the Sustainable Development Goals, this result provides empirical justification for this move, suggesting that more effective states could be crucial to sustain the development progress achieved so far. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T05:56:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | um.eprints-22445 |
| institution | Universiti Malaya |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T05:56:59Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | um.eprints-224452019-09-19T07:58:21Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/22445/ Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter? Asadullah, M. Niaz Savoia, Antonio HC Economic History and Conditions While poverty reduction remains central in the Post-2015 Agenda, its determinants remain debated in the literature, especially the role of structural conditions related to governance. This paper provides an assessment of two key dimensions: the global adoption of MDGs and state capacity. We do so by studying whether they facilitated convergence in income poverty measures, using cross-section and panel methods, with data on 89 developing economies for the period 1990–2013. We find that poverty headcount and gap measures tended to decrease faster in countries with initially higher income poverty. Such convergence accelerated after 2000, suggesting that MDGs adoption was instrumental to poverty reduction. However, this still leaves unexplained substantial variation in poverty reduction performance across countries. Such variation is explained by state capacity: countries with greater ability to administer their territories in 1990 experienced faster income poverty reduction and were more likely to have achieved the MDG target. This result is insensitive to robust regression methods and to a large set of controls (initial level of income, dependence on natural resources, education and health inputs, dependence on foreign aid, ethnic fractionalization, regional effects and a set of governance variables). As good governance and effective institutions are included in the Sustainable Development Goals, this result provides empirical justification for this move, suggesting that more effective states could be crucial to sustain the development progress achieved so far. Elsevier 2018 Article PeerReviewed Asadullah, M. Niaz and Savoia, Antonio (2018) Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter? World Development, 105. pp. 70-82. ISSN 0305-750X, DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.12.010 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.12.010>. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.12.010 doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.12.010 |
| spellingShingle | HC Economic History and Conditions Asadullah, M. Niaz Savoia, Antonio Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter? |
| title | Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter? |
| title_full | Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter? |
| title_fullStr | Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter? |
| title_short | Poverty reduction during 1990–2013: Did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter? |
| title_sort | poverty reduction during 1990 2013 did millennium development goals adoption and state capacity matter |
| topic | HC Economic History and Conditions |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT asadullahmniaz povertyreductionduring19902013didmillenniumdevelopmentgoalsadoptionandstatecapacitymatter AT savoiaantonio povertyreductionduring19902013didmillenniumdevelopmentgoalsadoptionandstatecapacitymatter |