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Globalization, Growth, and DistributionIn the last two decades, across a range
 of countries high growth rates have reduced poverty but have
 been accompanied by rising inequality. This paper is
 motivated by this stylized fact, and by the strong
 distributional concerns that persist among populations and
 policy makers alike, despite the poverty reduction observed
 in official statistics where growth has been sufficiently
 high. This seeming disconnects frames the questions posed in
 this paper. Why the disconnect, and what to do about it? It
 is argued that official poverty statistics may be missing
 key elements of the ground level reality of distributional
 evolution, of which rising inequality may be an indirect
 indicator. Heterogeneity of population means that there may
 be significant numbers of poor losers from technical change,
 economic reform and global integration, even when overall
 measured poverty falls. In terms of actions, attention is
 drawn to the role of safety nets as generalized compensation
 mechanisms, to address the ethical and political economy
 dimensions of such a pattern of distributional evolution.
 Addressing structural inequalities is also a long term
 answer with payoffs in terms of equitable growth. In terms
 of future analysis, diminishing returns have set in to the
 inequality-growth cross-country regressions literature.
 Further work to help policy makers should focus on: (i) new
 information to illuminate the disconnect; (ii) analysis and
 assessment of safety nets as generalized compensation
 mechanisms; and (iii) addressing specific forms of
 structural inequality related to assets, gender, and social
 groupings like caste or ethnicity.
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A Comparative Perspective on Poverty Reduction in Brazil, China and IndiaBrazil, China and India have seen
 falling poverty in their reform periods, but to varying
 degrees and for different reasons. History left China with
 favorable initial conditions for rapid poverty reduction
 through market-led economic growth; at the outset of the
 reform process there were ample distortions to remove and
 relatively low inequality in access to the opportunities so
 created, though inequality has risen markedly since. By
 concentrating such opportunities in the hands of the better
 off, prior inequalities in various dimensions handicapped
 poverty reduction in both Brazil and India. Brazil's
 recent success in complementing market-oriented reforms with
 progressive social policies has helped it achieve more rapid
 poverty reduction than India, although Brazil has been less
 successful in terms of economic growth. In the wake of its
 steep rise in inequality, China might learn from
 Brazil's success with such policies. India needs to do
 more to assure that poor people are able to participate in
 both the country's growth process and its social
 policies; here there are lessons from both China and Brazil.
 All three countries have learned how important macroeconomic
 stability is to poverty reduction.
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Macro and Micro Perspectives of Growth and Poverty in AfricaThis article reviews trends in poverty, economic policies, and growth in a sample of African countries during the 1990s, drawing on the better household data now available. Experiences have varied. Some countries have seen sharp drops in income poverty, whereas others have witnessed marked increases. In some countries overall economic growth has been pro-poor and in others not. But the aggregate numbers hide systematic distributional effects. Taking both macro and micro perspectives of growth and poverty in Africa, the article draws four key conclusions. First, economic policy reforms (improving macroeconomic balances and liberalizing markets) appear conducive to reducing poverty. Second, market connectedness is crucial to enable participation in the gains from economic growth. Some regions and households by virtue of their remoteness were left behind when growth picked up. Third, education and access to land emerge as key private endowments to help households benefit from new economic opportunities. Finally, rainfall variations and ill health have profound effects on poverty outcomes, underscoring the significance of social risk management in poverty reduction strategies in Africa.