ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors summarize their insights with respect to antipoverty policy in developing countries. These insights were gained in the course of three major research projects focused upon the relationship between the various facets of modernization and relative and absolute poverty. The first is a cross-section statistical study of the sources of differences among countries in the relative income shares of the poorest 60 percent of households. The second is a historical analysis of processes leading to extreme poverty in the middle of the nineteenth century. The third is a modeling effort for the South Korean economy used as a laboratory to explore the probable efficacy of major but nonrevolutionary strategies, policies, and programs for the alleviation of poverty in the medium run. Taken together, the cross-section, historical, and modeling studies underline the great difficulty which planners face in finding policy instruments or programs which are effective in achieving more equitable paths of economic growth.
