Economic growth and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa : current and emerging issues / edited by Andy McKay and Erik Thorbecke.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

List of figures -- List of tables -- List of contributors -- Introduction / Andy McKay and Erik Thorbecke -- The anatomy of growth and development in Sub-Saharan Africa / Erik Thorbecke -- Is poverty a binding constraint on growth in Sub-Saharan Africa? / Jean-Yves Duclos and Stephen A. O'Connell -- Agriculture as an engine of growth and poverty reduction: lessons for Africa / Douglas Gollin -- Growth, employment creation, and poverty reduction: an overview, evidence, and possible applications to Africa / Haroon Bhorat -- The informal economy, economic growth, and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa / Ernest Aryeetey -- Spatial inequality and its implications for growth-poverty-reduction relations / Andy McKay and Emilie Perge -- Linking economic growth to poverty reduction under globalization: a case for harnessing globalization for the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa / Machiko Nissanke -- Real exchange rate undervaluation and poverty / Ibrahim A. Elbadawi -- Author index -- Subject index.

After many years of disappointing performance, Sub-Saharan African has shown impressive growth performance since the start of the millennium. However, the impact of this on poverty reduction is still not well understood and this led the African Economics Research Consortium in Nairobi to undertake a major collaborative research project on the linkages between growth and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. This volume induces two review chapters on the impact of growth on poverty reduction, and on the impact of widespread poverty on economic growth, and argues that both relationships are important for understanding how growth and poverty reduction interact. The volume focuses, in detail, on the role of agriculture, the labor market, the informal sector, the industrial sector, the global context, and macroeconomic issues. All chapters comprise an extensive review of the existing literature, and highlight new and important directions. As more information on the evolution of poverty and living conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa emerge, this volume is important in helping to interpret and explain that evidence.

Based on the results of a major collaborative research project led by the African Economics Research Consortium.