Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Professor of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

2 Graduate in Economic Development and Planning, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

Poverty is one of the main factors human has faced society throughout history. High economic growth over the last decade has given rise to the idea that growth can reduce global poverty. In the 1950s and 1960s, most developmental ideas about growth and poverty was also about trickle-down growth. It was then widely thought that growth would lead to an increase in poverty, an idea that Bhagavati presented in 1988 during the Green Revolution. But in two decades, the developmental literature on pro-poor growth has expanded. Inequality is just as important as growth because increasing inequality leads to an increase in social class distance and might cause failure in improving the situation of the poor in society. Since the Kuznets assumption states that growth in the early stages leads to increased inequality as long as countries earn an average income, growth will support the poor when, in addition to reducing poverty, it has also helped reduce inequality.
In this study, the relationship between the three concepts of development, namely poverty, inequality, and growth, using the indexes of pro-poor growth (Kakwani & Pernia, 2000; Kakwani & Sun, 2003) in 9 Islamic countries, has been examined and the latest available data in PovcalNet Information Base and Stata analytical distribution package was utilized. The main purpose of this research is to examine the nature of growth without considering the determinants factors of growth. The results for Kazakhstan (2001-2006, 2006-2006, and 2010-2010) show that growth has led to a reduction in poverty as well as a real reduction in the inequality between the poor and the rich, which reflects a high pro-poor growth in this country. Moreover, Tajikistan (2004-1999) has also experienced the largest reduction in poverty. The results show that the nature of growth in Tajikistan (2009-2005) and Turkey (2002-2002), which experienced positive growth, was poor by measuring various poverty indicators. Moreover, the nature of the growth in Iran during 2014-2006 using pro-poor growth index (PPGI) and Poverty Equivalent Growth Rate (PEGR), has been poor and pro-poor, respectively. In general, the results showed that growth in Islamic countries cannot be regarded as a relative pro-poor growth. If the pro-poor growth is measured by different indicators of poverty, people close to the poverty line will benefit more from growth than those who live far from the poverty line (the poorest poor).

Keywords

Main Subjects

Adams, R. H. (2004). Economic growth, inequality and poverty: estimating the growth elasticity of poverty. : WorldDevelopment.##Apounoorie, A., & Azhdari, H. (1999). The effect of income distribution on economic growth with an inter-country analysis with emphasis on Iran. Journal of Humanities Al-Zahr University, Vol, 32. 52-73. [in Perison] ##Apounoorie, A., & Abbasi Qadi, R. (2006). Estimating the effect of economic growth on poverty in Iran. Journal Research of Economics Iran, 9(30), 23-52. [in Perison] ##Araar, A., & Duclos, J. (2007). DASP: Distributive Analysis Stata Package. PEP, World Bank, UNDP and Université Laval. ##Bagheri, F., & Kavand, H. (2008). The effect of economic growth on poverty and inequality in Iran (1996-2005). Social Welfare Quarterly, 7(28), 173-190. [in Perison] ##Darvishi, B., & Ahmadikhah, M. (2017). Measuring the pro-poor growth in Free jobs and wages in five development programs. Applied Economics Studies, Iran, 6(24), 177-198. [in Perison] ##Deutsch, J., & Silber, J. G. (2011). On various ways of measuring pro-poor growth. Economics: The Open-Access. Open-Assessment E-Journal, 5. ##Forbes, K. J. (2000). A Reassessment of the Relationship between Inequality and Growth.: American economic review. ##Ghsemiyan, S. (2005). Poverty Reduction in Iran: Challenges and Agreements. : Social Welfare. [in Perison] ##Harmáček, J., Syrovátka, M., & Dušková, L. (2017). Pro-poor growth in East Africa. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 64, 82-93. ##Kakwani, N., & Pernia, E. M. (2000). What is pro-poor growth?. Asian Development Review, 18, 1-16. ##Kakwani, N., Neri, M., & Son, H. (2010). Linkages between pro-poor growth, social programs and labor market: the recent Brazilian experience. World Development, 38, 881-894. ##Otchia, C. (2014). Agricultural modernization, structural change and pro-poor growth: Policy options for the Democratic Republic of Congo. : Journal of Economic Structures. ##Page, J. (2006). Strategies for pro-poor growth: pro-poor, pro-growth or both? : Journal of African Economies. ##Piraee, K., & Qanaatiian, A. (2006). The effect of economic growth on poverty and income inequality in Iran: Measuring Pro-poor growth. Journal Research of Economics Iran, 8(29), 113-141. [in Perison] ##PovcalNet. (2015). PovcalNet: The online tool for poverty measurement developed bythe Development Research Group of the World Bank. ##  http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/##Raghfar, H., Babapour, M., & Yazdanpanah, M. (2015). Investigating the Relationship between Economic Growth and Poverty and Inequality in Iran during the First to Fourth Development Plans. Applied Economics Studies, Iran, 4(16), 59-79. [in Perison] ##Rashdan, A. (2014). Middle class and pro-poor growth in Egypt: the missing connection. : Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies. ##Ravallion, M., & Chen, S. (2003). Measuring pro-poor growth. Economics Letters, 78, 93-99. ##Ravallion, M. (2004b). ‘Pro-Poor Growth: A Primer’. : World Bank Policy Research. ##Rezagholizadeh, M. (2016). Investigating the Impact of Tourism on the Triangle of Poverty, Inequality and Economic Growth. : Journal of Tourism Management Studies. [in Perison] ##Son, H., & Kakwani, N. (2008). Global estimates of pro-poor growth. World Development, 36, 1048-1066. ##Son, H. (2007). Pro-poor growth: concepts and measures. ##Statistical Centre of Iran, Information on annual nationalaccounts (1991-93), Tehran: Statistics Center of Iran Publications. [in Perison] ##Zaman, K., Khan, M. M., Ahmad, M., & Shabir, M. (2012). The study of pro-poor growth and poverty reduction in Pakistan (1999–2006). Social Change, 42(2), 249-261. ##Zaribaff, M. (2012). An overview of the causes of poverty from the perspective of conventional economics. : Economic Journal - Monthly review of economic issues and policies. [in Perison] ##