Panama Poverty Assessment : Translating Growth into Opportunities and Poverty Reduction

Panama is one of the richest and fastest growing economies in Latin America; however it is considered a country of stark contrasts and, for some of its citizens, abysmal poverty. Large disparities in extreme poverty, poverty, and in other measures of human development exist among its citizens. This chapter examines the trends in economic growth, inequality and poverty in Panama between 1997 and 2008 at both the national level and by region, ethnicity and gender. It presents characterization of the patterns of consumption growth across the consumption distribution (including whether the growth is 'pro-poor'). Next, it examines the role of internal migration flows in explaining shifts in poverty and extreme poverty between rural and urban areas. Lastly, the chapter begins to analyze the inequality of access to basic opportunities among children using the Human Opportunity Index (HOI). The Human Opportunity Index (HOI) is an operational measure of opportunities that takes into account both coverage and the distribution of access to basic goods and services by children, who cannot be held accountable for pre-determined circumstances at birth such as their race, gender, family income, parents' education level, or place of residence. The study is based on nationally-representative Living Standards Measurement Surveys (LSMS), which were conducted in 1997, 2003 and 2008. The LSMS household questionnaire includes quantitative data on various aspects of living conditions, including household structure, housing, infrastructure, health, nutrition, education and training, economic activity (labor), migration, spending and consumption, income, savings, credit, independent business activities, and agriculture. Since the latest available information is for 2008, the poverty numbers presented here reflect the Panamanian situation after the end of the period of high growth but before the impact of the 2008-09 global financial crises. With this latest dataset, there are now three comparable household surveys that allow for the study of the evolution of poverty in Panama between 1997, 2003, and 2008.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2011-06-30
Subjects:	ACCESS TO EDUCATION, ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY, ACCESS TO SANITATION, ACCESS TO SCHOOLS, ACCESS TO SERVICES, AGRICULTURAL GROWTH, AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AGRICULTURAL SECTORS, ANNUAL GROWTH, BENEFICIARY FAMILIES, CAPITAL ACCUMULATION, CARIBBEAN REGION, CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM, CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS, CASH TRANSFERS, CHANGES IN POVERTY, CHRONIC MALNUTRITION, CITIZENS, CLEAN WATER, COLLEGE EDUCATION, CONSUMER PRICES, CONSUMPTION AGGREGATE, CONSUMPTION GROWTH, CONSUMPTION MEASURE, CONSUMPTION SMOOTHING, DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, DESTITUTE FAMILIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS, DIET, DIRECT TRANSFERS, DISTRIBUTION OF ACCESS, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC GROWTH, EDUCATION LEVEL, EDUCATION OF PARENTS, EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY, EQUITABLE ACCESS, EXTREME POOR HOUSEHOLDS, EXTREME POVERTY, EXTREME POVERTY LINE, FAMILY INCOME, FERTILITY, FERTILITY RATES, FINANCIAL CRISIS, FOOD BASKET, FOOD CONSUMPTION, FOOD POVERTY, FOOD POVERTY LINE, FOOD PRICES, GINI COEFFICIENT, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROSS NATIONAL INCOME, GROWTH ELASTICITY, GROWTH PERFORMANCE, HEADCOUNT POVERTY, HEADCOUNT RATIO, HEALTH EXPENDITURES, HEALTH OUTCOMES, HEALTH SERVICES, HIGH GROWTH, HIGH POVERTY, HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HOUSEHOLD WELFARE, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT, IMMUNIZATION, INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, INCOME, INCOME DATA, INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS, INEQUALITY, INFANT, INFANT MORTALITY, INFECTIOUS DISEASES, INSURANCE, INTERNAL MIGRATION, JOB OPPORTUNITIES, JOB TRAINING, LEVELS OF CONSUMPTION, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIVE BIRTHS, LIVING CONDITIONS, LIVING STANDARDS, LONG RUN, MALNUTRITION, MEANS TESTING, MEASLES, MIGRANT, MIGRATION FLOWS, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, MODEL SPECIFICATIONS, MONEY TRANSFERS, MORTALITY RATE, NATIONAL ACCOUNTS, NATIONAL LEVEL, NATIONAL POPULATION, NATIONAL POVERTY, NUTRITION, PATTERNS OF CONSUMPTION, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE, PER CAPITA GROWTH, PLACE OF RESIDENCE, PLACES OF ORIGIN, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY INTERVENTIONS, POLICY MAKERS, POOR, POOR PEOPLE, POOR WOMEN, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY ASSESSMENT, POVERTY ESTIMATES, POVERTY GAP, POVERTY INCIDENCE, POVERTY LINES, POVERTY MAPS, POVERTY MEASURES, POVERTY RATE, POVERTY RATES, POVERTY REDUCTION, POVERTY REDUCTION POLICIES, POVERTY REDUCTION PROGRAMS, POVERTY STATUS, PREGNANCIES, PREGNANT WOMEN, PRENATAL CARE, PRICE SUBSIDIES, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRO-POOR, PROGRESS, PUBLIC EDUCATION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PURCHASING POWER, PURCHASING POWER PARITY, QUALITY OF EDUCATION, RATE OF GROWTH, REDUCING INEQUALITY, REDUCING POVERTY, REGIONAL AVERAGE, REGIONAL AVERAGES, REGIONAL CONTEXT, RELATIVE IMPORTANCE, REPEATERS, RURAL, RURAL AREAS, RURAL HOUSEHOLDS, RURAL MIGRANTS, RURAL MIGRATION, RURAL ORIGIN, RURAL PHENOMENON, RURAL POOR, RURAL POPULATION, RURAL POVERTY, RURAL PUBLIC, SANITATION, SAVINGS, SCARCE RESOURCES, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOLING, SECONDARY DEGREE, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOLING, SECTORAL POLICIES, SEGMENTS OF SOCIETY, SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, SMALL ENTERPRISES, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SOCIAL SECURITY, SOCIAL SPENDING, SUBSISTENCE, SUBSISTENCE FARMERS, TARGETING, TEEN, TEENAGE PREGNANCY, TEENAGERS, TEENS, TRANSFER PROGRAMS, TRANSPORTATION, UNFPA, UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND, UNIVERSAL ACCESS, URBAN AREAS, URBAN DWELLERS, URBAN MIGRATION, URBAN POOR, URBAN POVERTY, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, WELFARE MEASURE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2011/06/16465530/panama-poverty-assessment-translating-growth-opportunities-poverty-reduction https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12671
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