Pro-Poor Growth: Cross Country analysis focusing on South Asia

The relationship between growth, poverty and inequality has become central in development economics due to its significance for poverty reduction. Two school of thoughts emerge, pro-growth and pro-distribution. The growth group favours only the growth led by poverty reduction irrespective of income distribution, the distributionists favour such growth, which makes the income distribution more egalitarian. The purpose of this paper is to establish a link between average per capita income and incomes of poor through poverty elasticity of growth suggested by pro-poor growth literature. It also investigate link between incomes of poor with the globalization and agriculture and find out inequality elasticity. The focus of the paper is the most vulnerable region of the world and Asia. It homes to more than 1.6 Billion population of the world with more than 50 percent living below the standard poverty line. The growth debate in this region is of supreme importance for the development practitioners and governments to rethink of the ongoing and future growth policies for transforming this region more egalitarian and pro-poor.