Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita income of just above US$100. With such a low average income, poverty is of course widespread, so understanding the causes of poverty is of utmost importance, but until recently very little household-data has been available. This study deals with many aspects of poverty and income-distribution in Ethiopia, providing a wealth of information on household-income and its determinants. The book is of interest both to academics working on poverty analysis and to policy makers and donors collaborating with Ethiopia.

To tackle pervasive poverty in Ethiopia, the root cause must be removed first. Only then can the country hope for progress. Dr. Assefa Muluneh, formerly a senior economist at the Planning Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, explores the dimensions and prevalence of poverty in Ethiopia. More importantly, he proposes strategies to solve the problems. Laced with data and based on real-world experiences, the book serves as a guide to solve systemic poverty in Ethiopia and beyond. The author shares how poverty became such a big problem in Ethiopia and how it affects politics, education, and the economy. The book also focuses on issues such as the cost of living, income distribution, housing, and how demographic trends will shape the future of the nation. While Ethiopia became the fastest growing economy in Africa in 2018 and had an estimated gross domestic product of US$96.1 billion in 2019, it remains among the poorest countries in the world with a life expectancy of only sixty-six years. Find out why poverty continues to be rampant in Ethiopia and what can be done to move the country forward with the insights and observations in Inequality and Poverty in Ethiopia.

Recent years have seen a period of adjustment and structural change for most developing countries. The ongoing consequences of the debt crisis in the 1980s caused widespread concern of a serious deterioration in wage and employment conditions, as well as in poverty and income distribution. Although the outlook for developing countries changed for the better during the 1990s, concerns about the labour market have not subsided. This book takes a detailed look at employment trends in developing countries, bringing together a distinguished group of international academics and practitioners.

This study looks at the economic changes accompanying the 1974 social revolution in Ethiopia. It analyses the attempt to introduce a socialist pattern of development and underlines the weaknesses in development strategy. Chapters on land reform and agricultural development are included.

Ethiopia’s economy is rapidly transforming. However, the extent to which this is affecting off-farm income and labor markets in rural areas is not well understood. Based on a large-scale household survey in high potential agricultural areas, we find that total off-farm income (defined as wage and enterprise income) makes up 18 percent of total rural income. Wage income in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors accounts for 10 percent of total household income, equating in importance to livestock income. We show off-farm income and wage income to be relatively more important for the poor and female and youth-headed households. We further find that real rural wages increased by 54 percent over the last decade, mostly driven by high agricultural growth. While this wage increase is good news for the poor, it also induces adjustments in agricultural production practices, including increased adoption of labor-substituting technologies such as herbicides and mechanization. However, it also relaxes liquidity constraints in the off-season for some households, consequently leading to higher productivity.

Men's and women's participation in FFW and self-employment responds differently to household and community shocks. After controlling for selection in which gender plays an important role, gender disadvantages in the wage labor market and FFW are insignificant. Returns to schooling and height are consistently positive in both wage labor and FFW, suggesting returns to human capital investment, even in the low-skill labor markets of rural Ethiopia. Program characteristics significantly affect participation, with differential effects on men and women. Participation, days worked, wages, and earnings vary according to the type of project. Relative to infrastructure projects, water, social services, and other projects decrease participation probabilities. Distance has a strong negative effect on women's participation relative to men's"--Abstract