The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Poverty

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Poverty is a pressing and persistent problem. While its extent varies across countries, its presence always represents the diminution of human capacity. Therefore, it seems natural to want to do something about it. Have countries made progress in mitigating poverty? How do we determine who is poor and who is not poor? What intuitions or theories guide the design of anti-poverty policy? Is overall labor market performance the key to keeping the poverty rate low? Or, does it matter how well-connected an individual is to those who know about the availability of jobs? Does being an immigrant increase the odds of being poor? Are there anti-poverty policies that work? For whom do they work? If I'm poor, will I have access to health care and housing? Am I more likely to be obese, polluted upon, incarcerated, un-banked, and without assets if I'm poor? Is poverty too hard a problem for economic analysis? These are some of the questions that a distinguished group of scholars have come together to confront in this Handbook. The Handbook is written in a highly-accessible style that encourages the reader to think critically about poverty. Theories are presented in a rigorous but not overly-technical way; concise and straightforward empirical analyses enlighten key policy issues. The volume has six parts: Poverty in the 21st Century; Labor Market Factors; Poverty Policy; Poverty Dynamics; Dimensions of Poverty; and Trends and Issues in Anti-Poverty Policy. A goal of the Handbook is to stimulate further research on poverty. To that end, several chapters challenge conventional thinking about poverty and in some cases present specific proposals for the reform of economic and social policy. Salient Features A distinguished collection of contributors Multi-dimensional approach to the study of poverty and anti-poverty policy Treatment of topics not normally covered in poverty texts such as asset accumulation, obesity, fringe banking, environmental justice, and governance Integrated organization of the chapters permits easy cross-referencing

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Preface Contributors Introduction and Overview Philip N. Jefferson Part I. Poverty in the 21st Century Chapter 1. The Alleviation of Poverty: How Far Have We Come? Robert D. Plotnick Chapter 2. Consumption and Income Poverty in the U.S. Bruce D. Meyer and James X. Sullivan Chapter 3. Poverty Lines across the World Martin Ravallion Chapter 4. Theories of Poverty: Traditional Explanations and New Directions Christopher K. Johnson and Patrick L. Mason Part II. Labor Market Factors Chapter 5. Poverty and the Labor Market Kevin Lang Chapter 6. Employment in Black Urban Labor Markets: Problems and Solutions Judith K. Hellerstein and David Neumark Chapter 7. Low-Skilled Immigrants and the U.S. Labor Market Brian Duncan and Stephen J. Trejo Chapter 8. Poverty and Low Earnings in the Developing World Gary S. Fields Part III. Poverty Policy Chapter 9. Anti-Poverty Programs for Poor Children and Families Janet Currie Chapter 10. Education and the Poor Lisa Barrow and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach Chapter 11. Poverty, Health, and Healthcare Darrell J. Gaskin and Eric T. Roberts Chapter 12. Geographical Price Variation, Housing Assistance, and Poverty Dirk W. Early and Edgar O. Olsen Part IV. Poverty Dynamics Chapter 13. Distributions in Motion: Economic Growth, Inequality, and Poverty Dynamics Francisco H.G. Ferreira Chapter 14. Is Poverty Incompatible with Asset Accumulation? Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe, and Trina Williams Shanks Chapter 15. Poverty Transitions Ann Huff Stevens Chapter 16. Macroeconomic Fluctuations and Poverty Philip N. Jefferson and Kunhee Kim Part V. Dimensions of Poverty Chapter 17. Obesity, Poverty, and the Ability to Pay for Calories Susan L. Averett Chapter 18. Environmental Justice: Do Poor and Minority Populations Face More Hazards? Wayne B. Gray, Ronald J. Shadbegian, and Ann Wolverton Chapter 19. Female Trust in Government and Gender Income Inequality in Sub- Saharan Africa Juliet U. Elu and Gregory N. Price Chapter 20. Crime, Incarceration, and Poverty Steven Raphael Chapter 21. Payday Lending: New Research and the Big Question John P. Caskey Part VI. Trends and Issues in Anti-Poverty Policy Chapter 22. An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Anti-Poverty Programs in the United States Yonatan Ben-Shalom, Robert Moffitt, and John Karl Scholz Chapter 23. Are Economists in Over Their Heads? Kevin S. O'Neil and Marta Tienda Chapter 24. Anti-Poverty Policy: The Role of Individualist and Structural Perspectives William A. Darity, Jr., Mary Lopez, Olugbenga Ajilore, and Leslie Wallace Chapter 25. A New Statistic: The U.S. Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure Philip N. Jefferson Index