Premium
Structural Adjustment and Poverty Alleviation: An Interpretative Survey
Author(s) -
Killick Tony
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
development and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-7660
pISSN - 0012-155X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7660.1995.tb00554.x
Subject(s) - poverty , principal (computer security) , structural adjustment , basic needs , economics , development economics , culture of poverty , public economics , economic growth , computer science , market economy , operating system
There are few simple generalizations about the effects of adjustment programmes on poverty. There remain many data and methodological problems, and outcomes are complex and varied. Poverty groups often are harmed by adjustment programmes, especially the urban working poor, but there has been a tendency to over‐emphasize negative outcomes. There are many other influences on poverty. In the long term, adjustment is essential to the eradication of poverty. The principal responsibility for achieving anti‐poverty objectives must lie with national governments but they do not always display much concern with the poor. However, the international financial institutions must share the responsibility and could do more to design structural adjustment programmes within a cost‐minimizing framework. The principal policy tasks are to formulate a long‐term anti‐poverty strategy and ensure that adjustment policies are consistent with that, without detracting from the imperative of adapting the economy to changing circumstances.