Analyzing The Distributional Impact Of Reforms A Practitioner S Guide To Trade Monetary And Exchange Rate Policy Utility Provision Agricultural Markets Land Policy And Education

This publication is a practitioner's guide for analyzing the distributional impact of reforms to trade, monetary and exchange rate policy, utility provision, agricultural markets, land policy and education. These six areas of policy reform are the ones most likely to have an impact on distribution and poverty. Such analysis helps in policy formulation and development and for implementing poverty reduction strategies in developing countries. Each chapter in this volume provides an overview and guidance on the specific issues arising in the analysis of the distributional impacts of policy and institutional reforms in selected sectors.

"Analysis of the distributional impact of policy reforms plays an important role in the elaboration and implementation of poverty reduction strategies in developing and transitional countries, promoting evidence-based policy choices and fostering debate on policy reform options. International agencies and national partners are increasingly encouraging a more systematic application of policy reform analysis. Requisite to a systematic application is capacity building within countries as well as within donor agencies." "Tools for Institutional, Political, and Social Analysis of Policy Reform: A Sourcebook for Development Practitioners contributes to this agenda by introducing a framework and a set of practical tools that analyze the institutional, political, and social dimensions of policy design and implementation. The authors fill a perceived gap in knowledge of the application of social tools and complement existing guidance on conventional economic analysis of distributional impacts of reform." "This book will be of interest to commissioners and practitioners working in policy analysis in a range of areas - including macroeconomic, sectoral, and public sector policy - that are subject to ongoing policy reform discussions."--BOOK JACKET.

"The analysis of the distributional impact of policy reforms on the well-being or welfare of different stakeholder groups, particularly on th e poor and vulnerable, has an important role in the elaboration and implementation of poverty reduction strategies in developing countries. In recent years this type of work has been labeled as Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) and is increasingly implemented to promote evidence-based policy choices and foster debate on policy reform options. While information is available on the general approach, techniques, and tools for distributional analysis, each sector displays a series of specific characteristics. These have implications for the analysis of distributional impacts, including the types of impacts and transmission channels that warrant particular attention, the tools and techniques most appropriate, the data source typically utilized, and the range of political economy factors most likely to affect the reform process. This volume provides an overview of the specific issues arising in the analysis of the distributional impacts of policy and institutional reforms in selected sectors. Each chapter offers guidance on the selection of tools and techniques most adapted to the reforms under scrutiny, and offers examples of applications of these approaches. This is a companion to the first volume, which offers guidance on trade, monetary and exchange rate policy, utility provision, agricultural markets, land policy, and education."

"Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) is an approach used increasingly by governments, civil society organizations, the World Bank, and other development partners to examine the distributional impacts of policy reforms on the well-being of different stakeholders groups, particularly the poor and vulnerable. PSIA has an important role in the elaboration and implementation of poverty reduction strategies in developing countries because it promotes evidence-based policy choices and fosters debate on policy reform options. Poverty and Social Impact Analysis of Reforms presents a collection of case studies that illustrate the spectrum of sectors and policy reforms to which PSIA can be applied; it also elaborates on the broad range of analytical tools and techniques that can be used for PSIA. The case studies provide examples of the impact that PSIA can have on the design of policy reforms and draw operational lessons for PSIA implementation. The case studies deal largely with policy reforms in a single sector, such as agriculture (crop marketing boards in Malawi and Tanzania and cotton privatization in Tajikistan); energy (mining sector in Romania and oil subsidies in Ghana); utilities (power sector reform in Ghana, Rwanda, and transition economies, and water sector reform in Albania); social sectors (education reform in Mozambique and social welfare reform in Sri Lanka); taxation reform (Nicaragua); as well as macroeconomic modeling (Burkina Faso)."

First Published in 2009. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Hunger and Markets is the third volume of the UN World Food Programme's World Hunger Series - created to help promote a better understanding of the choices confronting leaders as they work to fight hunger. It appears at a crucial time, with food prices at high levels, a severe global financial crisis and vulnerable households around the world endangering their future health, education and productivity by reducing both the quality and the quantity of their food intake. Hunger and Markets explores the complex and multifaceted interactions between the availability of and access to food and the operations of markets. The structure and dynamics of food markets and the threats and opportunities markets generate are crucial for the access to food for billions of people. Markets are also critical in averting or mitigating food shortages and hunger by adjusting to shocks, reducing vulnerability and coping with crises. Whether markets help or harm the hungry poor is a function of markets' institutions, infrastructure and policies. This volume analyzes the workings of markets in order to identify the sources of market failures in addressing hunger and malnutrition, and to highlight the ways in which they can be improved. The report sets out the ways in which programme design and policy formulation can build on the strengths of markets to prevent possible negative effects, and will be essential reading for all those involved in the fight against world hunger. Published with World Food Programme

First published in 2009. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Developing Asia’s sustained rapid growth has improved general living standards and lifted hundreds of millions of Asians out of poverty within a generation. Yet the region now finds itself confronting rising inequality. Countries where inequality has worsened over the past 2 decades collectively account for over 80% of Asia’s population. As a result, governments across the region have begun to accord a higher priority to promoting more inclusive growth. The international experience, especially the experience of the advanced economies, suggests that fiscal policy can make a potent contribution to reducing inequality. This book systematically explores the relationship between both sides of fiscal policy—public spending as well as taxes and other fiscal revenues—and inequality in Asia at great depths. On the basis of the analysis, the book sets forth a number of concrete options for rendering fiscal policy a more effective tool for more inclusive growth that benefits all Asians. Inequality, Inclusive Growth, and Fiscal Policy in Asia is written in response to an issue of growing demand in most Asian countries, and it comes at a time when Asian governments are also beginning to use fiscal policy to bridge the glaring disparities between the rich and the poor of the region. As such, the book will be a highly valuable reference for researchers, policy makers, and students as well.