The last decade has bought sharp adjustments and rising poverty to much of the developing world. The experiences of Africa and Latin America are contrasted with areas which were able to combine adjustment with protecting the poor.

The last decade has brought sharp adjustment and rising poverty for most of the developing world. Adjustment and Poverty: Options and Choices examines the major causes and results of this situation, including: *the relationship between structural adjustment and poverty; *the extent to which the situation was brought about by internal and/or external policies; *the impact of the IMF and World Bank on adjusting countries; *government tax and spending policies - with a particular focus on social sector spending; *the possiblity of better policies in the future.

Luthar integrates findings of empirical research, conducted over the past three decades, on processes implicated in the adjustment to socioeconomic deprivation.

This study has identified a number of examples in which concerns about the alleviation of poverty have been given some practical expression in adjustment programs. Because most of these examples are of very recent origin, it is difficult to assess how effective they have been in helping the poor. First, one striking feature of the illustrations compiled is that they are invariably orderly or planned structural adjustment programs that have often been implemented with Bank assistance (Bolivia, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Indonesia, Jamaica, and Thailand). Second, income distributions will inevitably change during adjustment. These changes are the principal incentives for resource reallocation, and without them the objectives of adjustment will not be realized. Third, the study highlights the advantages of interventions that increase the primary income claims of the poor. Finally, adjustment can act as a catalyst for policymakers to examine carefully the costs and benefits of their programs for the poor.

First published in 1999, this study seeks to explore the effects of economic adjustment and why the classical prescriptions for structural adjustment did not succeed in Mexico, or at best succeeded only partially. It asks why growth was retarded, not accelerated; inequality rose rather than fell; poverty increased rather than declined; informalization of the economy occurred rather than modernization. Mexico’s story needs to be better known and this book is a good place to begin, containing numerous insights and valuable lessons for analysts and policy makers alike.

Adjustment programs will fail when they do not recognize the interdependence of the three criteria of efficiency, welfare, and political feasibility. These programs must be tailored to both the political and economic environments of each country.

In this 1998 study the authors isolate the effect of specific policy measures associated with adjustment programs in ten African countries.