Poverty in transition in eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States: Conceptual issues and some findings

Abstract

Data from the UNDP-sponsored national human development reports is used to assess the extent of poverty in countries in transition in eastern Europe and the CIS. In order to do so, however, it has been necessary to clarify some of the conceptual issues, issues that have tended to become confused in recent years. These are in particular: (i) income-related poverty vs. welfare more broadly; (ii) poverty measurement at respectively the macro (national) vs. the micro (household) levels. It is a conclusion of the paper that poverty especially in the countries of the CIS is very different in kind from poverty elsewhere, requiring different forms of analysis and eventually different forms of intervention.