Structural Adjustment And Income Distribution

Structural adjustment and economic stabilization programmes are alleged in many developing countries to have imposed a high social cost in terms of the distribution of income and the incidence of poverty.; This study develops a framework for selecting appropriate instruments to optimize efficiency and equity in these countries, as well as those in transition to a market economy.

Adjustment programs will fail when they do not recognize the interdependence of the three criteria of efficiency, welfare, and political feasibility. These programs must be tailored to both the political and economic environments of each country.

There are a variety of approaches, and country issues and data availability will determine the most practical approach.

Structural adjustment programmes are the largest single cause of increased poverty, inequality and hunger in developing countries. This book is the most comprehensive, real-life assessment to date of the impacts of the liberalisation, deregulation, privatisation and austerity that constitute structural adjustment. It is the result of a unique five year collaboration among citizens‘ groups, developing country governments, and the World Bank itself. Its authors, the members of the Structural Adjustment Participatory Review International Network (SAPRIN), reveal the practical consequences for manufacturing, small enterprise, wages and conditions, social services, health, education, food security, poverty and inequality. The stark conclusion emerges: if there is to be any hope for meaningful development, structural adjustment and neoliberal economics must be jettisoned.