Insurance against Poverty / Edition 1

by Stefan Dercon

Overview

Poor people in developing countries are often affected by droughts, floods, illness, crop failure, job loss, and economic downturns. Informal insurance mechanisms provide some protection, but are weak in the face of major or recurring calamities. Most people cannot obtain formal insurance, and the lack of insurance and social protection therefore constrains investment, growth, and poverty reduction. Public action to remedy this deficiency is merited, but what form should it take? This book evaluates alternatives in widening insurance and social protection provision, including sustainability and poverty effects, in thorough, up-to-date thematic papers and case studies, development assessments, and policy analyses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199276837
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/27/2005
Series:	WIDER Studies in Development Economics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	488
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Stefan Dercon is a University Lecturer at the University of Oxford, and has been Professor in Development Economics at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, a Research Officer at the centre of the Study of African Economies, a Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Table of Contents

Overview, Stefan DerconRisk and Insurance: evidence1. Risk, Insurance and Poverty: a review, Stefan Dercon2. Consumption Smoothing Across Space: Testing Theories of Risk-Sharing in the ICRISAT Study Region of South India, Jonathan MorduchRisk and Poverty: Theory3. The Two Poverties, Abhijit Banerjee4. Inequality and Risk, Marcel FafchampsRisk and Poverty Persistence5. Household Income Dynamics in Rural China, Jyotsna Jalan and Martin Ravallion6. Health, Shocks and Poverty Persistence, Stefan Dercon and John Hoddinott7. The Macroeconomic Repercussions of Agricultural Shocks and their Implications for Insurance, Paul CollierIdentifying the Vulnerable8. Measuring Vulnerability to Poverty, Gisele Kamanou and Jonathan Morduch9. Targeting and Informal Insurance, Ethan LigonRisk and Social Institutions10. Risk-Sharing and Endogenous Network Formation, Joachim De Weerdt11. Is a Friend in Need a Friend Indeed? Inclusion and Exclusion in Mutual Insurance Networks in Southern Ghana, Markus Goldstein, Alain de Janvry and Elisabeth Sadoulet12. The Gradual Erosion of the Social Security Function of Customary Land Tenure Arrangements in Lineage-Based Societies, Jean-Philippe PlatteauSafety nets and social institutions13. Do Public Transfers Crowd Out Private Transfers? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Mexico, Pedro Albarran and Orazio P. Attanasio14. Food Aid and Informal Insurance, Stefan Dercon and Pramila Krishnan15. Why isn't there more Financial Intermediation in Developing Countries?, Jonathan Conning and Michael KevaneDeveloping better protection for the poor16. Can Food-for-Work Programmes Reduce Vulnerability?, Christopher B. Barrett, Stein Holden and Daniel C. Clay17. Learning from Visa®? Incorporating Insurance Provisions in Microfinance Contracts, Loïc Sadoulet18. Can Financial Markets be Tapped to Help Poor People Cope with Weather Risks?, Jerry Skees, Panos Varangis, Donald Larson and Paul SiegelConclusion19. Risk, Poverty, and Public Action, Stefan Dercon