Policy-based analysis of the intensity, causes and effects of poverty: The case of Mawlamyine, Myanmar

Abstract

This article tells the story of poverty in Myanmar from a policy perspective. It employs an unprecedented household-level dataset on Mawlamyine Township to provide hitherto-lacking measurements of the extent of poverty and inequality, as well as the significant causes of that poverty. It then uses the expenditure and income behaviour of residents to interpret the ability of the population to meet their food and non-food basic needs. Since poverty, its proximate causes, the prices of food and other necessities are all amenable to policy interventions, the artilce then identifies the most effective policies for alleviating poverty in Myanmar. © 2012 Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID).