International development + poverty settings 1.9 - 1.11

Question 1

What is the definition of international institutions?

Answer 1

An organisation with an international membership, scope or presence

Question 2

Give examples of international institutions (x4)

Answer 2

International Monetary Fund
International Bank for Reconstruction + Development
World Bank
World Trade Organisation (1995)

Question 3

What does the International Monetary Fund do?

Answer 3

It is cooperative and public
Focuses on crisis and may lend money
Overseer of orderly monetary system + guardian of economic stability

Question 4

What does the World Bank do?

Answer 4

Investment Bank that mediates between investors and recipients
Promotes economic + social progress in LEDCs
Advice and training

Question 5

What does the World Trade Organisation do?

Answer 5

Formed in 1995
Powers over national governments
Clear + stringent rules to govern global trade liberalisation

Question 6

What are the 3 types of multilateral organisations?

Answer 6

International institutions
Multinational corporations
International civil organisations

Question 7

What is the definition of a multinational corporation?

Answer 7

A corporate organisation which owns/controls production of goods/services in at least one country other than home country

Question 8

What do international civil organisations do?

Answer 8

Humanitarian, peace work

Global trade liberalisation

Question 9

Give examples of international civil organisations (x3)

Answer 9

UN
International Red Cross
WHO

Question 10

What are the achievements of globalisation? (x6)

Answer 10

Quicker economic growth
International trade flows, access to markets
Access to jobs
Access to knowledge
Interconnectedness
Innovation, richer cultural exchange

Question 11

What are the disappointments of globalisation? (x6)

Answer 11

Crises: lack of stability + funds; IMF imposes conditions
Developing countries: persistent poverty despite World Bank promises
Trade regime: invasive IMF, WTO
Growing divide: ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ - inequality
Funds diversion: privatisation, less social services, health impacts of economic growth, insecticides, pollution
Environment: unprecedented global degradation; uncertainty over nature withstanding pressures from global scale economic activity; increasing global effects of human activity on the environment

Question 12

What is the theory behind international trade?

Answer 12

International trade enhances a country’s income by forcing resources to move from less productive uses to more productive uses aimed to utilize a nation’s comparative advantages
Enhances stability by diversifying the sources of funding

Question 13

What are the equity problems with international trade?

Answer 13

LEDCs lowered trade barriers
Advanced countries maintained subsidies on agricultural goods
Short of capital and entrepreneurship
Moving resources from low productivity to zero productivity
Conditions + fast pace reforms requested by IMF

Question 14

What is the Washington Consensus?

Answer 14

A set of 10 economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the “standard” reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries - ‘one size fits all’
Formed by institutions such as IMF, World Bank and US Department of the Treasury
Macroeconomic stabilisation - austerity
Expansion of market forces within the domestic economy

Question 15

Why is poverty a complex concept?

Answer 15

Multiple definitions encompassing lack of income/wealth, human underdevelopment, social exclusion, ill-being, vulnerability, relative deprivation
‘Voices of the poor’ (2000, World Bank) - 40 000 interviews to collect experience of the poor and found it is a multidimensional phenomenon

Question 16

Why should poverty be measured?

Answer 16

If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it (Lord Kelvin)
Allocate funds
Target groups/communities
Assess impact of policies + programs
Track progress
Enhance accountability
Diagnose problems/bottlenecks
Advocacy + communication 
Make policies - design, evaluation, link w/ other methods

Question 17

Why should poverty be studied?

Answer 17

Matter of basic human rights
Less likely to accumulate ‘human capital’
Less likely to invest
Intergenerational transmission

Question 18

What is a poverty measure?

Answer 18

Part of the population that falls short of some minimum level (=poverty line) + provides a VALUE that summarises deprivation in the society e.g. World Bank’s $1 a day

Question 19

What is an inequality measure?

Answer 19

Consider the ENTIRE DISTRIBUTION (one or several indicators) and provide a VALUE that summarises the inequalities between every person/group and the rest of the population/groups e.g. Gini index, coefficient of variation

Question 20

What is a well-being measure?

Answer 20

Consider the entire distribution of achievements + provides a VALUE that summarise the well-being of the entire population e.g. GDP, Human Development Index, Happiness Indices

Question 21

What has been the evolution of poverty?

Answer 21

Classical economists (19th century) view poverty as a social phenomenon (Smith, Ricardo, Marx) - lack of a historical-societal subsistence
Neoclassical economists (late 19th century to modern day) view poverty in the context of individual circumstances + behaviours - shortfall in consumption from a given poverty line

Question 22

What is the poverty line?

Answer 22

Z
Dichotomises the population in 2 categories = poor/non-poor
Monetary approach = amount of financial resources considered necessary
Multidimensional approach = minimum amount required in order not to be deprived in that dimension/indicator

Question 23

What are the key steps in measuring poverty as described by Sen, 1976?

Answer 23

1) Choice of space of analysis (how do you define poverty?)
2) Identification - what is the threshold to identify the ‘poor’?
3) Aggregation - How do you aggregate the information for the people that are defined as ‘poor’?

Question 24

What is the World Bank’s poverty line as of 2015?

Answer 24

$1.9 a day measured in international dollars w/ purchasing power parity adjustment

Question 25

How is the geography of poverty changing since 1990s?

Answer 25

Increase in SSA but decrease in East Asia and Pacific

Progress uneven across dimensions of poverty

Question 26

Why is there a need for resource allocation in global health?

Answer 26

Because resources are scarce, choices must be made

Allocate resources so that they most efficiently produce desired output

Question 27

What are the limitations of DALYs?

Answer 27

Controversial methods
Relies on expert opinion or population preferences that are not context-specific
Conceptually confusing
Use often limited to developing country settings

Question 28

What are the limitations of global burden of disease?

Answer 28

Scarcity of data
Black box epidemiology
Results do not reflect consensus among authors
Withdrawn from WHO
Country ownership vs country manipulation

Question 29

What is the definition of cost-effectiveness?

Answer 29

Evaluation of the degree to which something is productive in relation to its costs + alternatives

Question 30

How is cost-effectiveness measured?

Answer 30

A cost-effectiveness analysis is the comparison of two or more alternative courses of action in terms of their costs (inputs) and consequences (outcomes) used to inform decision making
Cost effectiveness globally informs the global health agenda