2006 World Development Report: Equity and Development

The 2006 WDR: Equity and Development was released yesterday. As with all of WDRs it is jam-packed with information, anecdotes and analysis. We will be sure to pass along snippets as we work our way through it.

For example, see Chapter 5: Inequality and investment, which argues for equity improvements that are also efficiency-enhancing:

Third, because investments build wealth and wealth makes it easier to invest in a world where markets do not function very well, a little help can go a long way. Starting the right business might be the biggest challenge: once started, the business might propel itself forward without further help.

Fourth, it is not clear that the beneficiaries from this kind of efficiency-promoting redistribution have to be the poorest of the poor. Because the ideal is to promote productive investments, the targets should be those most likely to make the investments.

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