Growth and distribution

The challenge

Since the turn of the century, a large proportion of countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced impressive growth rates. While extreme poverty rates have reduced, the benefits of growth have not been shared equitably.

On the one hand, technological change, globalisation (and the associated trend of premature deindustrialisation) have led to polarization in labour markets. On the other hand, inequality of opportunity persists, despite significant reductions.

Poverty and inequality are at the heart of the link between growth and distribution and their alleviation depends on the political and governance mechanisms in individual settings.

We need to urgently identify innovative approaches that narrow both income and opportunity gaps.

How we are addressing it

GDI has a long and successful tradition in this area:

Distribution (and its links to both poverty and inequality) has been at the heart of numerous projects, particularly in the context of Latin America, South Asia and Africa.
Topical issues on governance, institutions and their links to both growth and distribution have been addressed as part of the Effective States research centre.
GDI researchers are branching out into cutting edge methodological frameworks like behavioural economics and have addressed behavioural aspects of governance and intra-household allocation of resources.