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CASE is collaborating with the LSE's International Inequalities Institute to
lead a three-year programme of research on the connections between inequality and poverty.
This programme
Improving the Evidence
Base for Understanding the Links between Inequalities and Poverty
An understanding that poverty and inequality are inextricably linked has given
rise to a number of large international organisations (World Bank; UN; WEF;
Oxfam) setting joint inequality-poverty reduction targets on the basis that
poverty cannot be seriously tackled without addressing inequality. However, the
evidence base was relatively weak with only limited information available on the
relationship between the two phenomena.
This project is specifically designed to expand the evidence base on the
links between inequality and poverty and to fill this knowledge gap.
In this programme of research we are exploring the relationship between
inequality and poverty by:
(a) examining philosophical concerns for poverty and inequality and how they may
overlap
(b) estimating the empirical relationship between income inequality and a
variety of poverty measures
(c) reviewing the existing evidence base on potential mechanisms that may drive
any relationship
(d) conducting case study research to explore in more detail one of the key
mechanisms identified in the evidence reviews
(e) investigating potential policy options.
Here we review some of the conceptual issues and existing evidence alongside
emerging findings from this research with links to published discussion papers
and presentations.
Irene
Bucelli has been reviewing different philosophical positions and theories
that underlie concerns about poverty and inequality and explores the extent to
which these are compatible and can, in fact, overlap.
Her paper
Inequality,
poverty and the grounds of our normative concerns, the first in our
discussion paper series, concludes that it is possible to argue that our
concerns with poverty and inequality are not mutually exclusive and that a
‘pluralist’ view can incorporate different justifications for being concerned
about both.
Lin Yang
reviewed the different concepts and measures of inequality and poverty in her
paper
The relationship
between poverty and inequality: concepts and measures.
This highlighted how some measures are likely to lead to a higher
empirical correlation between the two phenomena for mathematical reasons and
provided a strong basis for our empirical studies.
Eleni
Karagiannaki carried out an extensive examination of the empirical
cross-country relationship between income inequality and income poverty.
Her research shows that higher income inequality (measured in a variety
of ways) is associated with higher income poverty across countries and that
there exists a positive relationship between changes in income inequality over
time and changes in relative income poverty.
The findings from this research can be found in her paper
The empirical
relationship between income inequality and income poverty in rich and middle
income countries.
There may be some concern about the circularity in looking at the relationship
between income inequality and income poverty, so Lin Yang and
Polly
Vizard investigated the relationship between income inequality and three
further measures of poverty (material deprivation, a multi-dimensional poverty
index and a capability-based multi-dimensional measure of poverty.
In their paper
Multidimensional
poverty and income inequality in the EU: An adjusted headcount approach
they provide evidence that the positive correlation between inequality and
poverty is not limited to income measures of poverty, and holds after
controlling for a range of micro-level and macro-level variables.
The next phase of our work involves examining the evidence on a number of
potential mechanisms that theory and evidence suggest drive the positive
empirical relationship. Such as:
We are also exploring how dynamic mechanisms may help to shape the
relationship between inequality and poverty. For example, through the
relationship between higher inequality and lower mobility (cross-sectional and
intergenerational) making it harder to escape poverty. Discussion papers
examining the evidence on mechanisms will be published shortly.
The project has lead to the creation of an online policy toolkit that provides a systematic, wide-ranging and accessible assessment of a variety of policies with a potential 'double dividend': policies that could lead to reductions in both poverty and inequality. The toolkit has been designed to be a useful aid to anyone interested in policies which reduce poverty and inequality and in particular policies with the potential to have a ‘double dividend’. It has been created with a wide audience in mind, including practitioners, policy-makers, academics and students. You can find out more at our policy toolkit website.
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LIP Discussion papersInequality, poverty and the grounds of our normative concernsLIPpaper 1 by Irene BucelliThe relationship between poverty and inequality: Concepts and measurementLIPpaper 2 by Lin YangThe empirical relationship between income poverty and income inequality in rich and middle income countriesLIPpaper 3 by Eleni KaragiannakiMultidimensional poverty and income inequality in the EULIPpaper 4 by Lin Yang and Polly VizardThe relationship between poverty and inequality: Resource constraint mechanismsLIPpaper 5 by Lin YangUnderstanding the relationship between inequalities and poverty: mechanisms associated with crime, the legal system and punitive sanctionsLIPpaper 6 by Magali Duque and Abigail McKnightUnderstanding the relationship between inequalities and poverty: a review of dynamic mechanismsLIPpaper 7 by Magali Duque and Abigail McKnightUnderstanding the relationship between poverty, inequality and growth: a review of existing evidenceLIPpaper 8 by Abigail McKnightThe net effect of housing-related costs and advantages on the relationship between poverty and inequalityLIPpaper 9 by Lin YangUnderstanding the relationship between poverty and inequality. Overview reportLIPpaper 10 by John Hills, Abigail McKnight, Irene Bucelli, Eleni Karagiannaki, Polly Vizard and Lin Yng with Magali Duque and Mark RucciPublic Event: Staff on this programme
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