I am in a meeting of the Equitable Access Initiative (EAI), which is considering new ways of measuring development and/or health needs, in the context of the priority setting by donors. I am a member of the Expert Panel, and this was my intervention in the morning session:
The presentations by John McArthur and Dominik Zotti were excellent, and the work of the four expert groups is a very useful contribution for those struggling with the challenge of setting priorities for aid.
I do have a problem, however, and that is the acceptance of the present World Bank income categories definitions.
The World Bank income categories, based upon notions of what constituted a middle income country in the late 1980s, is, now, some three decades later, a problem by itself, not for sophisticated experts such as those in the room today, but for the less expert people who shape trade policies, to voters, and to legislators who determine aid budgets.
For them, once a country is classified as “middle” or “high” income, there is a hardening of attitudes about IPR policies, and less generous aid policies.
As I mentioned at the last meeting, and have indicated in other settings, we think the World Bank categories are outdated and harmful. It makes no sense to call a county with $1,046 per capita income to be middle income, or $12,737 per capita income (just 23 percent of the United States) to be be “high” income.
As far as I understand the work of the experts, they propose new metrics, but do not directly criticize the World Bank income categories, which continue to be widely used and misused.
Some of the emphasis today on the multi-variable approach is designed to offset the harm from the World Bank income classification. I think one recommendation we should make is to ask the World Bank to reconsider where it draws those bright lines for what it considers middle and high incomes.
This issue was raised by other members of the Expert Panels, and discussed again after lunch. There much of the discussion about this after lunch, including a debate over whether or not the terms of reference for the group allowed people to question of the World Bank income thresholds.
Some more context, see:
The World Bank definition of “high income” has slipped, in relative terms, compared to high income countries in general. November 28, 2013. /node/1834
The Development and History of the U.S. Poverty Thresholds — A brief Overview, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, DHHS, May 7, 2010.