Risk Attitudes and the ‘Vicious Circle of Poverty’

The article reconsiders the view that the poor are trapped into poverty as a result of their risk aversion, precluding the level of investment needed to lift them out of poverty. The starting point is the experimental methods of Binswanger who found no significant association between risk aversion and low income. Using experimental data from Uganda, Ethiopia and India the article confirms these early findings, and provides estimates of the correlation between the variables involved in the ‘vicious circle of poverty’. The paper concludes that there is generally little relationship between risk aversion and an income measure of poverty, but a strong relationship between the latter and asset levels and returns.Cet article reconsidère l'idée que les pauvres sont enferrés dans la pauvreté du fait de leur aversion au risque, qui empêche la constitution de l'investissement nécessaire pour les sortir de cette situation. Le point de départ de l'analyse repose sur les méthodes expérimentales de Binswanger, qui a mis en évidence l'absence de corrélation significative entre l'aversion au risque et les bas revenus. A partir de données expérimentales sur l'Ouganda, l'Ethiopie et l'Inde, l'article confirme ces résultats initiaux, et fournit des estimations sur le degré de corrélation entre les variables impliquées dans le 《cercle vicieux de la pauvreté》. L'article conclut qu'il y a généralement peu de rapport entre l'aversion au risque et une mesure de la pauvreté à partir du revenu, mais en revanche une relation étroite entre cette derniére et le niveau et la rentabilité des actifs détenus.

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