Marianne S. Ulriksen

Politics, Policy, and Poverty in Botswana, Mauritius, and other developing countries

Is pro-poor growth a workable recipe for poverty reduction in developing countries? Are economic growth and human capital investments combined with good governance and democracy sufficient to alleviate poverty? Starting with the empirical puzzle of Botswana – a country conforming to pro-poor growth strategies but with high poverty levels – this book finds these strategies insufficient. The author argues instead that welfare policies are critical instruments of poverty reduction and that the creation of welfare systems depends on domestic political processes.

Based on welfare regime and developmental literature and innovative empirical analyses embracing methodologies like cross-country regressions, process-tracing, and comparative historical analysis, the study reveals that broad-based welfare systems are crucial to reduce poverty and demonstrates how welfare systems develop through economic transformation and the emergence of social groups pursuing welfare policy expansion.

Simply, the book contributes to our knowledge on the causes and consequences of welfare policies in developing countries.

Udgivet marts 2010

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