Poverty Dynamics: Measurement and Understanding from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

Abstract

This paper introduces a significant new multi-disciplinary collection of studies of poverty dynamics, presenting the reader with the latest thinking by a group of researchers who are leaders in their respective disciplines. It argues that there are three main fronts on which progress must be made if we are to dramatically deepen the understanding of why poverty occurs, and significantly improve the effectiveness of poverty reduction policies. First, poverty research needs to focus on poverty dynamics - over the life-course, across generations and between different social groups. Second, there is a need to move efforts to measure poverty dynamics beyond mere income and consumption to more multidimensional concepts and measures of poverty. This is increasingly common in static analyses but is rare in work on poverty dynamics. Third, at the same time there is a growing consensus that a thorough understanding of poverty and poverty reduction requires bridging the gap between disciplines through interdisciplinary approaches that combine qualitative and quantitative methods in measurement and analysis.