PLCY 298 – Topics In Poverty & Human Resources

PLCY 295 – Topics in Poverty & Human Resources

Topic 1: Poverty

Measurement Issues

Deaton, Angus and Salman Zaidi (1998). “Guidelines for Constructing Consumption Aggregates for Welfare Analysis.” World Bank Development Economics Research Group. http:/www.worldbank.org/poverty/learning/diagnos/consump.pdf. Ravallion, M (1998). Poverty Lines in Theory and Practice. LSMS Working Paper No.133, World Bank, Washington DC. Ravallion, M. (1992). Poverty Comparisons: A Guide to Concepts and Methods. LSMS Working Paper No. 88, The World Bank, Washington DC. Tarp, F. et.al (2001). “The Robustness of Poverty Lines Reconsidered.” Economic Development & Cultural Change Vol.51(1). Deaton, Ch. 3.

Global Poverty and the MDGs

Angus Deaton, 2001. “Counting the World’s Poor.” World Bank Research Observer 16(2): 125-147. (see comment by T.N. Srinivasan in the same issue) Shaohua Chen & Martin Ravallion, 2001, How Well did the World’s Poorest Fare in the 1990s?” Review of Income & Wealth 47(3):283-300. Jan Vandemoortele (2002), “Are We Really Reducing Global Poverty?” UNDP Bureau for Development Policy, New York. World Bank MDG website: http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/MDG/home.do

Poverty and Economic Growth

David Dollar & Art Kray, 2002, “Growth is good for the Poor,” Journal of Economic Growth 7(3):195-225. Angus Deaton, 2005, “Measuring Poverty in a Growing World,” Review of Economics & Statistics Vol.87(1):1-19.

Poverty in the United States

Dale Jorgenson, 1998, “Did we lose the War on Poverty?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 12(1):79-96. Robert Triest, 1998, “Has Poverty Gotten Worse?” Journal of Economic Perspectives Vol.12(1):97-114.

Dynamics of Poverty PLCY 295 Poverty & Human Resources

Anirudh Krishna, 2004. “Escaping Poverty and Becoming Poor: Who Gains, Who Loses, and Why?” World Development Vol.32(1):121- Also see http://www.pubpol.duke.edu/krishna/householdpoverty/index.html for similar methodology.

Topic 2: Social Program Evaluation

General concepts

Martin Ravallion (2001) “The Mystery of the Vanishing Benefits: An Introduction to Impact Evaluation, World Bank Economic Review. 15(1):115-140.

Social Experiments

Heckman, James and Jeffrey Smith (1995) “Assessing the Case for Social Experiments.” Journal of Economic Perspectives. 9(2): 85-100. Newman, John, L. Rawlings and Paul Gertler (1994). “Using Randomized Control Designs in Evaluating Social Programs in Developing Countries.” World Bank Research Observer 9(2): 181-201. Friedlander, Daniel and Phil Robbins, (1995), “Evaluating Program Evaluations: New Evidence on Commonly Used Non Experimental Methods.” American Economic Review, Vol.85: 923-937. Deaton Ch. 2.

Program Placement

Rosenzweig, M., & K. Wolpin, 1986, “Evaluating the Effect of Optimally Distributed Programs: Child Health and Family Planning Interventions,” American Economic Review, Vol.76(3):470-482.

Social Experiments in Practice

Schultz, T.P. (2004). “School Subsidies for the Poor: Evaluating the Mexican Progresa Program.” Journal of Development Economics 74(1): 199-250. Hodinnott, J. and E. Skoufias (2004). “The Impact of Progresa on Consumption.” Economic Development and Cultural Change Vol.53(1): 37-62. Skoufias E. and S. Parker (2001). “Conditional Cash Transfers and Their Impact on Child Work and Schooling.” Economia 2(1): 45-86.

Non-experimental methods

Rosenbaum, Paul and Donald Rubin (1983) “The Central Role of the Propensity Score in Observational Studies for Causal Effects.” Biometrica. 70: 41-50. Diaz, J.J. and S. Handa (2004). “Propensity Score Matching as a Non-Experimental Impact Estimator: Evidence from Mexico’s PROGRESA.” Mimeo, UNC-CH, Department of Public Policy (forthcoming in JHR).

2 PLCY 295 Poverty & Human Resources

Van der Klauww, W. (2002). “Estimating the Effect of Financial Aid Offers on College Enrollment: A Regression-Discontinuity Approach, International Economic Review, Vol 43(4). Jacob, B. and L. Lefgren (2004). “The Impact of Teacher Training on Student Achievement: Quasi-Experimental Evidence.” Journal of Human Resources 39(1): 50-79. Schwartz, A.E. et.a. (2004). “The Impact of School Reform on Student Performance: Evidence from New York.” Journal of Human Resources 39(2): 500-522. William Gormley & Ted Gayer, 2005, “Promoting School Readiness in Oklahoma,” Journal of Human Resources Vol. 40(3):533-558. Marianne Bitler & Janet Currie, (2005) Does WIC Work? The Effects of WIC on Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management Vol.24(1):73-93. Kowaleski-Jones, Lori & Greg Duncan (2002). “Effects of Participation in the WIC Program on Birthweight: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.” American Journal of Public Health 92(5): 799-804.

Natural Experiments Esther Duflo, (2001) “Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Evidence from an Unusual Policy Experiment”, American Economic Review, pp. 795-813. S. Handa, “Raising Primary School Enrolment in Developing Countries: The Relative Importance of Supply and Demand.” Journal of Development Economics Vol.69:103- 128, 2002. John Donahue & Steven Levitt, 2004, “Further Evidence that Legalized Abortion Lowered Crime,” Journal of Human Resources Vol.39(1):29-49. (See original article in 2001 and refutation by Joyce in same issue.)