Decomposing poverty changes in Zambia: growth, inequality and population dynamics

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Periodical article

Title:	Decomposing poverty changes in Zambia: growth, inequality and population dynamics
Authors:	Mulenga, Shula Van Campenhout, Bjorn
Year:	2008
Periodical:	African Development Review
Volume:	20
Issue:	2
Pages:	284-304
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Zambia
Subjects:	poverty internal migration rural-urban disparity structural adjustment 1990-1999
External link:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8268.2008.00186.x/pdf
Abstract:	During the 1990s, the Zambian economy underwent major structural adjustments. This paper presents an application of a recently proposed poverty decomposition that attributes changes in poverty to income growth, changes in inequality and population dynamics. The results confirm earlier findings that the existence of a severe urban bias in the economy effectively shielded large parts of the rural population from the economic slump caused by the structural adjustments. In addition, the authors find that the exodus from urban centres that followed the adjustments contributed significantly to the increase in national poverty. The latter finding highlights the importance of considering population movements when studying poverty, especially in situations where policy changes affect migrant labour, as was the case for the Zambian copper industry. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]