PhD conferral Mw. Eleni A. Yitbarek, MSc.

“Getting Ahead or left behind ? Essays on poverty dynamics and social mobility in Africa”

Key words: poverty, dynamics, social mobility, sub-Saharan African countries

The increased recognition of the persistent nature of poverty has rekindled long-standing debates of who is getting ahead, who is left behind, who is standing still, and why, among development economists and policy makers alike. This dissertation is a collection of three essays and seeks to contribute to the aforementioned debate. It provides new empirical insights on poverty dynamics and social mobility in selected sub-Saharan African countries using a range of empirical approaches.  The dissertation concludes that informal safety nets in the form of support from friends/ family or being a member of a voluntary social association is not sufficient to exit subjective or consumption poverty. On the other hand, education plays a vital role to reduce both subjective and monetary poverty.​