The World Data Bank, Essay Example

When looking at the data in determining why poverty continues to persist, experts and critics rely on several self-reinforcing mechanisms for examining the poverty trap. According to research, “In a poverty trap, despite efforts, individuals, groups, or nations fail to raise or lack access to threshold levels of the different capital that spur economic growth and well-being, including human, financial, physical, and natural capital (Barrett and Swallow 2006).”(Maru, Fletcher, Chewings 1) In looking at the readings there were several methods in which poverty traps were examined. In comparing and contrasting two methods, we look at memberships theory in which provides a set of models that places emphasis on how poor neighborhoods impact the psychological social influence on their residents. Membership theory of inequality is a different approach in which takes that poverty is derived from the ethnographic or social determinates of behavior that can lead to collectively undesirable, and rational individual outcomes. (Bowles, Durlauf, Hoff 230)

Compared to another type of approach to poverty traps that is commonly used is asset-based approach. This approach looks at poverty traps as they examine the asset stocks, consumption flows, and how income is generated. (Carter 2) This is the common approach which analyzes the descriptive use of data to differentiate between the non-poor and the poor. How they both are similar is how they look at the nature to the pathways to and from poverty. However where asset approach misses the mark where membership theory takes the advantage is that it looks at the constraints in which relate to economic theory, and how it impacts how people use and accumulate assets overtime. Membership theory in turns looks at the structural determinants of why the poor stay poor. Overall the asset approach to understanding poverty is flawed because it discounts the underlying determinants of why people remain in poverty. While membership theory of equality is the more superior approach in examining not only the social and structural determinants, but also looking at the individual level determinants of behavior influence poverty.

Looking at the country of Bangladesh, people live on less than $1.25 a day. The poverty trend has falling, compared to 2005 the number of poor was a little under 60 million, while in 2010, the number has dropped to 40 million people.

For the country of Bangladesh, the level of inequality has increased 1% since 2005 for the poorest 20%, has increased slightly for the fourth 20%, and slightly decreased for the richest 20%.

Works Cited

“Bangladesh.” The World Data Bank. 2014. Web. 18 October 2014. http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/BGD

Bowles, Samuel, Durlauf, Steven N., Hoff, Karla. Poverty Traps. Princeton University Press. New Jersey. 2011.

Carter, Michael R. “What We Can Learn From Asset-Based Approaches To Poverty.” University of Wisconsin.  2006. Web. 18 October 2014. https://www.aae.wisc.edu/mrcarter/Papers/carter%20brookings%20final%20paper.pdf

Maru, Y. T., C. S. Fletcher, and V. H. Chewings. “A synthesis of current approaches to traps is useful but needs rethinking for indigenous disadvantage and poverty research.” Ecology and Society 17(2): 7. 2012. Web. 18 October 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-04793-170207