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Different episodes of economic growth display widely varying distributional characteristics, both across countries and over time. Growth is sometimes accompanied by rising and sometimes by falling inequality. Applied economists have come to rely on the Growth Incidence Curve, which gives the quantile-specific rate of income growth over a certain period, to describe and analyze the incidence of economic growth. This paper discusses the identification conditions, and develops estimation and inference procedures for both actual and counterfactual growth incidence curves, based on general functions of the quantile potential outcome process over the space of quantiles. The paper establishes the limiting 0 distribution of the test statistics of interest for those general functions, and proposes resampling methods to implement inference in practice. The proposed methods are illustrated by a comparison of the growth processes in the United States and Brazil during 1995-2007. Although growth in the average real wage was disappointing in both countries, the distribution of that growth was markedly different. In the United States, wage growth was mediocre for the bottom 80 percent of the sample, but much more rapid for the top 20 percent. In Brazil, conversely, wage growth was rapid below the median, and negative at the top. As a result, inequality rose in the United States and fell markedly in Brazil.

Poverty Reduction

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From 2000 to 2014, per capita gross domestic product in Sub-Saharan Africa increased by almost 35 percent in real terms, doubling in some countries. Such progress happened while agricultural productivity growth remained low in the aggregate, despite some bright spots, and poverty reduction was steady but discouragingly slow. This paper argues that ending extreme poverty will require structural change in agriculture, and in rural African economies more broadly. Drawing on a range of recent research, the paper outlines broad priority areas for policy actions to accelerate productivity and initiate structural change in the agriculture sector and the rural nonfarm economy.

Poverty Reduction --- Rural Development

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This report provides a comprehensive analysis of poverty and inequality in Tanzania and identifies some priority actions if poverty is to be reduced. The analysis is contained in two parts. The first part is based on the results of the Household Budget Surveys (HBSs) for 2017-18, 2007, and 2011-12; several rounds of National Panel Surveys (NPSs); and Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data; it also combines spatial information from the population census and other sources with HBS data to (1) provide a rigorous analysis of the evolution, profile, and determinants of poverty and inequality; (2) explore movements in and out of poverty and their drivers; and (3) examine the distribution of poverty and living conditions across the country at a detailed geographic level. The second part examines the pattern of structural transformation, firm profiles, job creation, and financial inclusion using the rebased GDP figures released in February 2019 plus data from the Statistical Business Register (SBR), Census of Industrial Production (CIP), national accounts, NPS, Integrated Labor Force Surveys (ILFS), and other sources.

Inequality --- Poverty Assessment --- Poverty Reduction --- Rural Poverty Reduction

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The pickup in economic activity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expected to continue in 2018 and 2019. MENA's oil exporters and oil importers both are benefitting from improved global growth; increased trade with trading partners in Europe and Asia; more stabilized commodity markets, especially oil; and some reforms undertaken in the region. The World Bank estimates that growth will accelerate to above 3 percent in 2019. Growth, however, remains below potential as crises and conflicts continue to damage output and reduce employment. While MENA has experienced more frequent conflicts than any other part of the world, by its magnitude, the refugee crisis represents something new. The protracted stay of refugees in hosting communities, now in its sixth year, not only has increased the risk to MENA's economic outlook but also has brought refugees' long-term development challenges to the forefront. Meeting these enormous challenges requires collective efforts.

Human Migrations & Resettlements --- Poverty Reduction

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This report analyzes issues related to international migration in Armenia and its impact on Armenian households' welfare. The report uses microdata coming from two recent household surveys, the 2017 Russian-Armenian University survey, a nationally-representative household focused on international migrants and their origin households, and the 2017 Integrated Living Conditions Survey, nationally representative household conducted by the Statistical Committee focused on welfare measurement but also with information on international migrants. The report finds that among international migrants, there are some slight differences in the profile of permanent and temporary migrants. Permanent migrants tend to be younger, more educated and are more likely to come from secondary cities, in contrast to temporary migrants, who are a bit older, less educated and are more likely to come from rural areas. Employment prospects for both groups are very limited the moment they leave the country, with employment rates around 25 percent. They tend to migrate largely to the Russian Federation, where they are hired almost exclusively by firms in the private sector. Temporary workers overwhelming work in the construction sector, while permanent workers show more diversity in sectors of employment.

Migration --- Poverty --- Poverty Reduction --- Remittances