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Crises and Social Programs. Vinod Thomas and Xubei Luo Independent Evaluation Group Istanbul, Turkey October 6, 2009. 1. The Current Economic Crisis. Global GDP Growth (percent, quarter-to-quarter, annualized). Source: WEO, July 2009. Turkey’s Decline in Industrial Production Growth.
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Crises and Social Programs VinodThomas and XubeiLuo Independent Evaluation Group Istanbul, Turkey October 6, 2009
1. The Current Economic Crisis Global GDP Growth (percent, quarter-to-quarter, annualized) Source: WEO, July 2009
Turkey’s Decline in Industrial Production Growth Industrial Production Growth (y-o-y) Sources: World Bank (DECPG), Datastream, IMF
2. Shocks and the Poor Limited coping methods • Low human capital • Few assets • Limited access to financial markets • Precarious living conditions • Fragile health/nutrition Impact • Sharp decline in consumption • Sharp decline in health and education expenditures
Poverty Impact of Current Crisis By end-2010, 90 million more people are expected to be living in extreme poverty, less than $1.25 per day, than would have been the case without the crisis.
Natural Disasters, a Growing Threat • The reported number of disaster has been increasing, growing from fewer than 100 in 1975 to more than 400 in 2005 (IEG, 2006). • The cost of disaster damages has been exploding: the economic costs of major disasters in constant dollars are now estimated to be 15 times higher than they were in the 1950s - $652 billion in material losses in the 1990s (IMF 2003). • Human cost is also high and increasing: more than 1.6 billion people were affected by natural disasters in 1984-93; and 2.6 billion in 1994-2003 (IEG, 2006).
3. Inclusiveness and Poverty Reduction A one standard deviation improvement in the income distribution could reduce poverty by 67% in Sub-Saharan Africa, close to half Latin America and Caribbean and Europe and Central Asia, one-third in Middle East and North Africa and East Asia and Pacific, and 17% South Asia.
Growth and Distribution Jointly Affect Changes in Poverty 100 0.1 1 poverty line 10 Source: Bourguignon (2003)
Social Protection in Previous Crises • Mexico: implementation of a one-time top up payment to Opportunidades participants to address the adverse welfare impacts of the recent food crisis. Payment to the poorest families increased by 24.3% in 2008. (Ravallion, 2008) • Indonesia: introduction of Health Care Subsidies program as an important component of the social safety net in response to the crisis in 1997. (Sparrow, 2008) • Thailand: expansion of existing social insurance program to provide support to low-income family in response to the crisis in 1997. (Pongsappich and Brimble, 1999)
WBG’s Vulnerability Framework “Protect the most vulnerable” is a theme of World Bank Group’s operational crisis response: • Protecting the most vulnerable from the fallout of the crisis • Maintaining long-term infrastructure investment programs • Sustaining the potential for private sector-led economic growth and employment creation
4. Poverty Programs, Not as an After-Thought • Social and poverty impact of crises should be anticipated • 1% reduction in GDP traps another 20 million people in poverty • 100 million more people in poverty with the global recession • Millions live very close to the poverty line, so even small GDP changes produce vast swings in poverty • Past responses to crises ignored poverty impact in the early stages • More attention needed to vulnerable groups—potential area for the World Bank Group to contribute • Impact on immigrant labor: foreign and domestic migration, remittances
Crisis Response Lessons from Research • Early, rapid and sizeable responses are key • Social safety-net and pro-poor policies need support from the outset • Policies need to account for behavior and the political economy • Immediate responses cannot ignore implications for development • Global crisis needs a global solution—target stimuli where the marginal impact will be the greatest* * How to Solve the Global Economic Crisis—Justin Yifu Lin, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, World Bank
Crisis Response Lessons from Evaluation • Emphasize not only volume, but also quality • Focus on poverty from the outset • Build in the environment and climate change • Seek selectivity and adaptability of response • Stress coordination among partners • Focus on monitoring and evaluation • Organize for early warning
Concluding Remarks • Protecting the most vulnerable is of critical importance during the crisis time and for driving equitable growth and reducing social exclusion in the long run. • Social protection is important for promoting inclusive growth with equality of opportunities. • Inclusive growth is part of the long-term solution for the global financial crisis.
Teşekkürederim! Thank You! IEG: Improving Development Results Through Excellence in Evaluation http://www.worldbank.org/ieg/ http://www.ifc.org/ieg/ http://www.miga.org/ieg/