The Social Dimensions of Adjustment : A General Assessment

[摘要] Inevitable as structural adjustment hasbeen, and successful as it might be, the engagement withpoverty in Africa is going to be a long-term affair. Ifgrowth does not restart, the reverse trickle-down mayfurther jeopardize the most vulnerable groups in thepopulation, involving high transitional costs of adjustment.Those costs arise from the reduction in real incomesengendered by tighter monetary and fiscal policies, fromincreased unemployment resulting from lags in supplyresponses, from price adjustment in product and factormarkets, and from reduced availability of social servicesfollowing the contraction of public expenditures. The SocialDimensions of Adjustment (SDA) program is to be reviewed asa strategic reaction to that nascent concern about theposition of the poor in the process of structuraladjustment. It is seen as a catalyst of effective actionaimed at poverty reduction in the framework of structuraladjustment programs. SDA delineated four components:analytical research, information gathering, social actionprograms, and institution building and training. This paperexamines each of the major SDA components and attempts toelaborate on the distinction between conjunctural(adjustment-vulnerable) and structural (long-term) poor andincorporates a high level of analysis as well as specificinnovations which are likely to withstand the test of time professionally.

[发布机构] Washington, DC

[学科分类] 社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

[关键词] STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT;POVERTY MITIGATION;INFORMATION SYSTEMS;SOCIAL ACTION;INSTITUTION BUILDING