Full Description
Much popular belief--and public policy--rests on the idea that those born into poverty have it in their power to escape. But the persistence of poverty and ever-growing economic inequality around the world have led many economists to seriously question the model of individual economic self-determination when it comes to the poor. In Poverty Traps, Samuel Bowles, Steven Durlauf, Karla Hoff, and the book's other contributors argue that there are many conditions that may trap individuals, groups, and whole economies in intractable poverty. For the first time the editors have brought together the perspectives of economics, economic history, and sociology to assess what we know--and don't know--about such traps. Among the sources of the poverty of nations, the authors assign a primary role to social and political institutions, ranging from corruption to seemingly benign social customs such as kin systems. Many of the institutions that keep nations poor have deep roots in colonial history and persist long after their initial causes are gone.
Neighborhood effects--influences such as networks, role models, and aspirations--can create hard-to-escape pockets of poverty even in rich countries. Similar individuals in dissimilar socioeconomic environments develop different preferences and beliefs that can transmit poverty or affluence from generation to generation. The book presents evidence of harmful neighborhood effects and discusses policies to overcome them, with attention to the uncertainty that exists in evaluating such policies.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii Introduction by Samuel Bowles, Steven N. Durlauf, and Karla Hoff 1 Part One: Threshold Effects 15 Chapter 1: The Theory of Poverty Traps What Have We Learned? by Costas Azariadis 17 Part Two: by Institutions 41 Chapter 2: The Persistence of Poverty in the Americas The Role of Institutions by Stanley L. Engerman and Kenneth L. Sokoloff 43 Chapter 3: Parasites by Halvor Mehlum, Karl Moene, and Ragnar Torvik 79 Chapter 4: The Kin System as a Poverty Trap? byKarla Hoff and Arijit Sen 95 Chapter 5: Institutional Poverty Traps by Samuel Bowles 116 Part Three: Neighborhood Effects 139 Chapter 6: Groups, Social Influences, and Inequality by Steven N. Durlauf 141 Chapter 7: Durable Inequality Spatial Dynamics, Social Processes, and the Persistence of Poverty in Chicago Neighborhoods by Robert J. Sampson and Jeffrey D. Morenoff 176 Chapter 8: Spatial Concentration and Social Stratification Does the Clustering of Disadvantage "Beget " Bad Outcomes?? by Michael E. Sobel 204 Contributors 231 Index 233
