This chapter focuses on the measurement of standard of living and on the factors influencing its level. Specific attention is paid to the indicators of standard of living, and the frequent employment of GDP is discussed and compared with possible alternatives. Household income is also a factor...

The last two decades have been characterised by significant changes in national pension arrangements. While at first, a consensus seemed to be evolving around a one-size-fits-all reform, more recently the trend has been towards a better customisation of reforms. This paper reviews this process,...

This paper studies multi-dimensional aspects of deprivation associated to the living conditions and inequality status in Cameroon. The study employs the fuzzy-set framework to analyze deprivation and inequalities through Dagum sub group decomposition. Results in deprivation analysis and...

The paper assesses the extent of household vulnerability to poverty in Pakistan. Preferably, household panel data of sufficient length is used to measure the incidence of vulnerability. However this data is rare in developing countries and if available is not nationally or regionally...

The aim of this paper is to complement theoretical and qualitative literature with empirical evidence on the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration in 52 African countries. It deviates from mainstream country-specific and microeconomic survey-based approaches in the literature...

In the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the poverty has been a main challenge since the last decades and its alleviation is one of the country’s strategic goals to achieve MDGs by 2015 to fight poverty and improve the standards of living of underprivileged population. Micro and SME financing...

Sustainable economic growth and Poverty alleviation is a principal objective of the developing countries. The present study aims to historically review of fiscal policy and its consequences for the economic development of the four South Asian economies i.e. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and...

The fundamental objective of this paper is to provide an insight into the role of entrepreneurship in job creation, income generation and empowerment, and poverty reduction in low-income economies. Having provided a conceptual framework and the theoretical underpinnings of the linkages of...

For countries assessing whether to implement a cash transfer program, an ex-ante evaluation is vital to assess its potential impacts. This study simulates the impact of alternative cash transfer programs on school attendance and poverty among Sri Lankan children. We find that cash transfer...

In this paper we present a comparative analysis of poverty and income inequality prevalent in the seven towns of Lahore. Further, an analysis of gender inequality and overall social development is presented by considering education, health, and labor market conditions. We have computed the...