| Abstract: |
This paper analyzes the relationship between growth, poverty and income
distribution using household data for Colombia for the years 1996 to 2004. We
study the relationship between growth, inequality and poverty by following the
Poverty Equivalent Growth Rate (PEGR) methodology developed by Kakwani and
Khandker, which considers both the magnitude of growth and the degree to which
the poor benefit from the growth process. We also carry out a decomposition of
the changes in poverty to better understand the effects of growth,
distribution and migration on poverty. Once we have explored pro-poor growth,
we move on to study the pro-poorness of Colombia’s main social programs using
Kakwani and Son’s “Pro-Poor Policy” index. The results show that growth in
Colombia has generally been anti-poor, a consequence of high inequality in the
urban sector and of low growth rates in the rural sector. Moreover, more than
half of Colombia’s social programs are also anti-poor, benefiting the non-poor
to a larger extent than the poor |