Measuring pro-poor growth when relative prices shift

Abstract

The theoretical literature on pro-poor growth as well as its application has not paid sufficient attention to the issue of varying inflation rates across the income distribution. Ignoring inflation inequality in pro-poor growth measurements can however severely bias assessments of pro-poor growth. Hence, we suggest simple methods which are able to redress such biases. As an empirical illustration, we use the case of Burkina Faso and the growth incidence curve and poverty change decompositions as pro-poor growth measurements. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.