Files
Abstract
This collection of essays honors a remarkable man and his work. Erik Thorbecke
has made significant contributions to the microeconomic and the macroeconomic analysis
of poverty, inequality and development, ranging from theory to empirics and policy. The
essays in this volume display the same range. As a collection they make the fundamental
point that deep understanding of these phenomena requires both the micro and the macro
perspectives together, utilizing the strengths of each but also the special insights that come
when the two are linked together. After an overview section which contains this
introductory chapter and a chapter examining the historical roots of Erik Thorbecke’s
motivations, the essays in this volume are grouped into four parts, each part identifying a
major strand of Erik’s work—Measurement of Poverty and Inequality, Micro Behavior
and Market Failure, SAMs and CGEs, and Institutions and Development. The range of
topics covered in the essays, written by leading authorities in their own areas, highlight the
extraordinary depth and breadth of Erik Thorbecke’s influence in research and policy on
poverty, inequality and development.