The fall of the elephant. Two decades of poverty increase in Côte d’Ivoire (1988-2008)

Denis Cogneau (1) , Kenneth Houngbedji (2) , Sandrine Mesplé-Somps (1)

1 IRD [Guinée] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
2 PSE - Paris School of Economics

At the end of the 1980s, Côte d’Ivoire entered a deep macroeconomic crisis that put an end to the often-praised ‘Ivorian miracle’. After the death of the founding father Houphouet-Boigny, unrestrained political competition added to bad economic conditions and led to the nightmare of civil war. Drawing from a series of five household surveys covering two decades(1988-2008), we tell the story of this descent into hell from the standpoint of poverty and living standards. In 2008, after five years of civil war and another episode yet to come (2010-11), theextreme US$1.25 poverty headcount had reached a historical record, with Northern areas deeplyimpoverished by the partition.

Mots clés: Economic history; Côte d’Ivoire; poverty; welfare

Domaines: Economies et finances; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Denis Cogneau, Kenneth Houngbedji, Sandrine Mesplé-Somps. The fall of the elephant. Two decades of poverty increase in Côte d’Ivoire (1988-2008). Growth and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, pp.44, 2016. ⟨hal-01288423⟩