The impact of economic reforms on rural households in Ethiopia: A study from 1989 to 1995

Book

Explores the link between economic reforms, growth, and changes in poverty in rural Ethiopia using panel data on 362 rural households in six communities in 1989 and 1994-95. Describes the evolution of the macroeconomy over 1986-95. Discusses the economic reforms and their likely effects on the rural economy. Introduces the sample villages, which were selected because they had experienced crisis and recovery from drought and famine in the mid-1980s. Discuss economic reform, local relative price changes, and how these affected returns to various activities in village economy. Develops a framework for assessing the extent to which measured changes in welfare can be attributed to economic reforms, rather than to factors like climatic conditions or idiosyncratic shocks faced by households. Uses the econometric model to investigate the determinants of the changes in food consumption during the study period. Distinguishes four groups of households--those that were poor in both 1989 and 1994-95; those that remained nonpoor in both periods; those that drifted into poverty between 1989 and 1995-95; and those that escaped from poverty--and uses the econometric results to explain real income changes for each. Provides a decomposition of the factors contributing to the change in overall poverty measures in the sample. No index.

Authors: Dercon, S

• Publisher: World Bank
• Host title: Poverty Dynamics in Africa Series
• Place of publication: Washington, D.C
• Publication date: 2002-01-01
• Language: English