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Poverty Alleviation Programmes

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Abstract

This article reviews the issues and evidence concerning a class of policies that aim to reduce poverty by providing direct current relief to those in need and/or by compensating for market and governmental failures that help perpetuate poverty. The article focuses on programmes found in developing countries. Poverty proxies or self-targeting mechanisms are typically used and the specific policies discussed include contingent transfers, community-based programmes, social funds and workfare programmes.

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Ravallion, M. (2018). Poverty Alleviation Programmes. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1996

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