Is growth good for the poor? Thailand's boom and bust

In the past two decades, Thailand experienced a prolonged economic boom followed by a collapse. During the boom the incidence of absolute poverty fell dramatically but relative inequality increased. The collapse of 1997 had the reverse effects. The poor became significantly worse off in an absolute...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of social economics 2000, Vol.27 (7/8/9/10), p.862-877
Main Author: Warr, Peter G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American dollar
Asia
Crises
Economic crisis
Economic decline
Economic growth
Exports
Finance companies
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Income inequalities
Portfolio investments
Poverty
Social economics
Speculation
Standard of living
Thailand
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Summary:In the past two decades, Thailand experienced a prolonged economic boom followed by a collapse. During the boom the incidence of absolute poverty fell dramatically but relative inequality increased. The collapse of 1997 had the reverse effects. The poor became significantly worse off in an absolute sense but proportionately less so than the rich; inequality thus declined. The significance of these events depends on a fundamental question: does the welfare of the poor depend on their absolute standard of living, as reflected in measures of poverty incidence, or on their position relative to the rich, as reflected in measures of inequality?
ISSN:0306-8293
1758-6712
DOI:10.1108/03068290010372180