Vulnerability to Poverty: Theory, Measurement and Determinants, with Case Studies from Thailand and Vietnam

With the current global crisis, high levels of volatility in trade, capital flows, commodity prices, aid, and the looming threat of climate change, this book brings together high-quality research and presents conceptual issues and empirical results to analyze the determinants of the vulnerability to poverty in developing countries.

About the Author :
JURGEN BRUNJES Research Associate and lecturer at the Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany BERND HARDEWEG Post-doc Research Associate at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Germany VERA JUNGE Research Associate at the Institute of Economic and Cultural Geography at Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Germany NIELS KEMPER Post-doctoral Researcher at the University of Mannheim, Germany CARMEN KISLAT Research Fellow at the Institute of Money and International Finance at Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Germany RAINER KLUMP Professor of Economics, Economic Development and Economic Integration at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, since 2000 KAI MAUSCH Associate Professional Officer at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), currently based in Malawi TOBIAS LECHTENFELD Research Associate at the Development Economics Research Group at the University of Gottingen, Germany INGO LIEFNER Professor of Economic Geography at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany LUKAS MENKHOFF Professor of Money and International Finance at Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Germany TUNG DUC PHUNG Development Economist and chairman of the Indochina Research and Consulting Company (IRC) in Hanoi, Vietnam FELIX POVEL PhD at the Development Economics Research Group at the University of Gottingen, Germany SUWANNA PRANEETVATKUL Associate Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, at the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand JAVIER REVILLA DIEZ Professor of Economic Geography at Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany ORNSIRI RUNGRUXSIRIVORN Senior Economist at the Ministry of Finance in Thailand DOMINIK SCHMID Junior Policy Advisor at the Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Eschborn, Germany ERICH SCHMIDT was Professor and Director of the Institute of Market Analyses and Agricultural Policy at the School of Economics and Management at the Leibniz University of Hannover in Germany until his retirement in 2006 SONGPORNE TONGRUKSAWATTANA PhD in Development and Agricultural Economics from Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Germany MARC VOELKER Statistical Office of the State Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany"

Review :
'By bringing together conceptual clarity, new and original data, and careful analysis of how households both deal with risk ex ante, and cope with shocks ex post, this volume makes an important contribution to the economic analysis of vulnerability to poverty. The book brings welcome coherence and comprehensiveness to a field which is often characterized by partial and fragmented approaches. It should be read not only by those who focus on Thailand and Vietnam, but by anyone interested in how risk and volatility interact with poverty, how households respond, and how policy-makers can help them to do so more effectively.' Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Lead Economist, Development Research Group, World Bank 'The method of directly tackling the measurement of expectations of risks and shocks, as done in this book, opens up some extremely exciting avenues for research that may allow for a better understanding of the connection between risk and subjective welfare.' Ethan Ligon, University of Berkeley, USA 'Despite some success in the battle against poverty across the world, the risk of falling into poverty remains high for billions of people, facing shocks that can devastate their lives. This collection of essays is a splendid contribution to poverty analysis, dealing with conceptual, diagnostic and policy issues." Amartya Sen, Harvard University, USA 'Applying vulnerability to poverty concepts to real data remains a serious challenge. This book offers a set of strong papers taking on this challenge, identifying the many empirical problems in vulnerability research and suggests ways to overcome them. ' Stefan Dercon, Professor of Development Economics, Oxford.