- United Nations University, UNU-WIDER, Department MemberUniversity of Oxford, Department of International Development, Department Memberadd
- Professor Andy Sumner FAcSS FRSA Biography Andy Sumner is Professor of International Development at King’s Colle... moreProfessor Andy Sumner FAcSS FRSA
Biography
Andy Sumner is Professor of International Development at King’s College London. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Royal Society of Arts; a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Economics and Development Studies at Padjadjaran University, Indonesia; Research Associate, University of Oxford; and Senior Non-Resident Research Fellow at the United Nations University, WIDER, Helsinki as well as the Center for Global Development, Washington DC. He is a former Vice President of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and a former council member of the Development Studies Association (DSA).
Professor Sumner is an editor of the joint United Nations University and Cambridge University Press book series and co-editor of Palgrave MacMillan’s ‘Rethinking International Development’ book series. He also serves on the editorial boards of the European Journal of Development Research, Nature Sustainability, and Global Policy.
Professor Sumner has received research council awards from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and is Director of the ESRC Global Challenges Strategic Research Network on Global Poverty and Inequality Dynamics, a collaboration across nine universities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He is also a member of the ESRC Peer Review College and sat on the ESRC Global Challenges Research Fund Commissioning Panel.
In 2012 Professor Sumner, together with Peter Kingstone, founded and subsequently led the International Development Institute at King’s College London that became the Department of International Development in 2016. Since then, Professor Sumner has been Research Director and lead for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) for the Department and a member of the Senior Leadership Group.
Prior to King’s College London, Professor Sumner was a Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex where he was also Head of Teaching Programmes and a member of the Senior Management Group.
Research
Professor Sumner has twenty years’ international research experience using both qualitative and quantitative methods. His research sits in interdisciplinary Development Studies and focuses on questions related to economic development and inequality dynamics across developing countries, and in Southeast Asia in particular.
Professor Sumner is well known for challenging prevailing assumptions and theorising about the paradoxes of economic development and inequality dynamics. He also popularised a new indicator of inequality that is now reported annually in various international databases including the United Nations University World Income Inequality Database, the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report Database, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Statistical Database.
Professor Sumner has published 15 books and more than 100 papers, journal articles, and book chapters. His most recent books are ‘Great Gatsby and the Global South’ (2023, Cambridge University Press) with Diding Sakri and Arief Yusuf; the ‘Developer’s Dilemma’, edited with Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Kunal Sen, and Arief Yusuf (2022, Oxford University Press); ‘Deindustrialisation, Distribution and Development’ (2021, Oxford University Press); ‘Distribution and Development’ (2018, Oxford University Press); and ‘Global Poverty’ (2016, Oxford University Press). He is currently working on a new book on cross-disciplinary enquiry in Development Studies.
Professor Sumner has contributed expertise to various policy-related processes, such as the Select Committees of the House of Commons, the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and a Lancet Poverty Commission. He has been listed in the US magazine Foreign Policy’s ‘Top 100 Global Thinkers’, and in the Huffington Post’s ‘Most Influential Voices’.edit
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Amartya Sen's famous study of famines found that people died not because of a lack of food availability in a country but because some people lacked entitlements to that food. Is a similar situation now the case for global poverty, meaning... more
Amartya Sen's famous study of famines found that people died not because of a lack of food availability in a country but because some people lacked entitlements to that food. Is a similar situation now the case for global poverty, meaning that national resources are available but not being used to end poverty? This paper argues that approximately three-quarters of global poverty, at least at the lower poverty lines, could now be eliminated—in principle—via redistribution of nationally available resources in terms of cash transfers funded by new taxation and the reallocation of public spending (from fossil fuel subsidies and 'surplus' military spending). We argue that the findings provide a rationale for a stronger consideration of some national redistribution for purely instrumental reasons: to reduce or end global poverty quicker than waiting for growth. We find that at lower poverty lines ending global poverty may now be within the financial capacities of most national governments of developing countries either in the form of potential new taxation or reallocation of existing public finances though this is not the case at higher poverty lines. In summary, reducing global poverty at lower poverty lines is increasingly a matter of national inequality.
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This paper revisits the debate on the changing 'geography' or location of global poverty. Specifically, most global poverty is concentrated in a set of populous countries that have transitioned from low income to middle income countries.... more
This paper revisits the debate on the changing 'geography' or location of global poverty. Specifically, most global poverty is concentrated in a set of populous countries that have transitioned from low income to middle income countries. The paper revisits the debate and argues that the shift in global poverty implies a questioning of the dominant theory of absolute poverty in all but the world's very poorest countries: that is that poverty in developing countries is explicable at societal level by insufficient public and private resources to address absolute poverty. Instead, a structural theory it is argued-meaning here theory that takes account of questions of distribution-is increasingly relevant to most, but not all, of global poverty. To this end an indicative empirical example of resources nationally available to end extreme poverty is explored in the form of the reallocation of public spending from regressive fossil fuel subsidies to poverty transfers.
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ABSTRACT The interplay of between- and within-country inequality, the relative contribution of each to overall global inequality, and the implications this has for who benefits from recent global growth (and by how much), has become a... more
ABSTRACT The interplay of between- and within-country inequality, the relative contribution of each to overall global inequality, and the implications this has for who benefits from recent global growth (and by how much), has become a significant avenue for economic research. However, drawing conclusions from the commonly used aggregate inequality indices such as the Gini and Theil makes it difficult to take a nuanced view of how global growth interacts with changing national and international inequality. In light of this we propose and justify an alternative approach based on four consumption “layers” identified by reference to the global consumption distribution.We consider how each layer of global society has fared since the end of the Cold War.
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... With the movement towards taking on local academic staff, the displaced expatriates needed to ... continuum of purpose from research with limited instrumentality (such as theory/abstraction) at ... In The Post-Development Reader ,... more
... With the movement towards taking on local academic staff, the displaced expatriates needed to ... continuum of purpose from research with limited instrumentality (such as theory/abstraction) at ... In The Post-Development Reader , Edited by: Rahnema, M. and Bawtree, V. London ...
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ABSTRACT Childhood poverty and well-being are distinct from adult poverty and well‐being both in quality and quantity. A 3‐dimensional well‐being approach is a means to capture that distinctiveness in a holistic way and thus complement... more
ABSTRACT Childhood poverty and well-being are distinct from adult poverty and well‐being both in quality and quantity. A 3‐dimensional well‐being approach is a means to capture that distinctiveness in a holistic way and thus complement more traditional ways of conceptualising and measuring child poverty and well‐being. This paper discusses what a 3‐dimensional (3‐D) well‐being approach contributes to understanding child poverty and child agency. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Abstract The purpose of this article is to assess the policy impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to begin to ask questions about any post-2015 global framework. The article argues that the MDGs have had substantial but... more
Abstract The purpose of this article is to assess the policy impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to begin to ask questions about any post-2015 global framework. The article argues that the MDGs have had substantial but uneven policy ...
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ABSTRACT This paper updates the distribution of global poverty data and makes projections up to 2020. The paper asks the following question: Do the world’s extreme poor live in poor countries? It is argued that many of the world’s extreme... more
ABSTRACT This paper updates the distribution of global poverty data and makes projections up to 2020. The paper asks the following question: Do the world’s extreme poor live in poor countries? It is argued that many of the world’s extreme poor already live in countries where the total cost of ending extreme poverty is not prohibitively high as a percentage of GDP. And in the not-too-distant future, most of the world’s poor will live in countries that do have the domestic financial scope to end at least extreme poverty. This would imply a reframing of global poverty as largely a matter of domestic distribution.
This paper addresses the following question: why are we still arguing about globalisation? It analyses the recent evolution of debates relating to the impact of globalisation on poverty and economic growth in developing countries. A... more
This paper addresses the following question: why are we still arguing about globalisation? It analyses the recent evolution of debates relating to the impact of globalisation on poverty and economic growth in developing countries. A stock-take of selected cross-country econometric research is made and the ‘battle- lines’ drawn between globalisation ‘rampants’ or ‘spikeys’ - those who are unequivocally proglobalisation and
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ABSTRACT Indonesia has made well-documented and drastic progress in raising average incomes and reducing poverty. This article adds to the literature by providing a complementary perspective of poverty between 1984 and 2011. We discuss... more
ABSTRACT Indonesia has made well-documented and drastic progress in raising average incomes and reducing poverty. This article adds to the literature by providing a complementary perspective of poverty between 1984 and 2011. We discuss the evolution of poverty in Indonesia using international poverty lines—$1.25 per person per day (in 2005 purchasing power parity dollars) and $2.00 per day, and we add $10.00 per day. We generate estimates of poverty since 1984 and make projections based on various trends in growth and inequality. We find that Indonesia has the potential to become a high-income country by around 2025 and end $1.25-per-day and $2.00-perday poverty by 2030, but this will require strong economic growth and favourable changes in distribution. Looking ahead, the end of poverty in Indonesia may mean that a large proportion of the population will remain vulnerable to poverty for some time to come, suggesting that public policy priorities will need to balance insurance and risk-management mechanisms with more ‘traditional’ poverty policy.
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This Poverty in Focus reviews the experience of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to date and asks what we can do to accelerate MDG progress in the years 2010?2015 and beyond. Longer versions of each article herein are available in... more
This Poverty in Focus reviews the experience of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to date and asks what we can do to accelerate MDG progress in the years 2010?2015 and beyond. Longer versions of each article herein are available in IDS Bulletin 41 (1) from the Institute of Development Studies in the United Kingdom. These debates acquire greater significance as we enter 2010 and embark on the discussions leading up to and beyond the UN review of the MDGs. The global economic crisis has changed the context within which MDG debates will happen. Unsurprisingly, there have been numerous calls for a new development narrative/paradigm from developing countries, international civil society organisations and development agencies. This changing context will affect the debate on the MDGs, past and future, in ways that perhaps only now are starting to become clear. The Washington Consensus has been declared dead (again), but the nature of the shift to a new model and the nature of the pol...
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This paper asks where do the world's multidimensionally poor people live? The paper considers how the global distribution of multidimensional poverty differs from the global distribution of income poverty and assesses the sensitivity... more
This paper asks where do the world's multidimensionally poor people live? The paper considers how the global distribution of multidimensional poverty differs from the global distribution of income poverty and assesses the sensitivity of findings to widely used (although somewhat arbitrary) country classifications. Surprisingly perhaps, only a quarter of multidimensionally poor people and just one-third of severely multidimensionally poor people live in the world's poorest countries – meaning Low Income Countries (LICs) or Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The sensitivity of findings about country thresholds for low and middle-income countries is discussed. The paper argues that there is a split of distribution poverty between both stable Middle-Income Countries (MICs) and low-income fragile states and that there is a 'multidimensional bottom billion' living in stable MICs.
This paper asks where do the world's multidimensionally poor people live? The paper considers how the global distribution of multidimensional poverty differs from the global distribution of income poverty and assesses the sensitivity... more
This paper asks where do the world's multidimensionally poor people live? The paper considers how the global distribution of multidimensional poverty differs from the global distribution of income poverty and assesses the sensitivity of findings to widely used (although somewhat arbitrary) country classifications. Surprisingly perhaps, only a quarter of multidimensionally poor people and just one-third of severely multidimensionally poor people live in the world's poorest countries – meaning Low Income Countries (LICs) or Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The sensitivity of findings about country thresholds for low and middle-income countries is discussed. The paper argues that there is a split of distribution poverty between both stable Middle-Income Countries (MICs) and low-income fragile states and that there is a 'multidimensional bottom billion' living in stable MICs.
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... 2007), other studies such as those that are part of CGIAR (2008) use a method (the ImpactPathways Method) which does not necessarily capture these aspects in a comparable way. ... IDSBulletin Volume 41 Number 6 November 2010 125 Page... more
... 2007), other studies such as those that are part of CGIAR (2008) use a method (the ImpactPathways Method) which does not necessarily capture these aspects in a comparable way. ... IDSBulletin Volume 41 Number 6 November 2010 125 Page 3. Sumner et al. ...
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ABSTRACT Middle-income countries (MICs) are now home to most of the world’s extreme poor — the billion people living on less than $1.25 a day and a further billion people living on between $1.25 and $2. At the same time, many MICs are... more
ABSTRACT Middle-income countries (MICs) are now home to most of the world’s extreme poor — the billion people living on less than $1.25 a day and a further billion people living on between $1.25 and $2. At the same time, many MICs are also home to a drastically expanding emerging middle or nonpolar group, called here the “buoyant billions.” This group includes those (mostly in MICs) living on between $2 and $4 a day and another billion people (also mostly in MICs) between $4 and $10 a day. Although they are above the average poverty line for developing countries, many people in these new “middle classes” may be insecure and at risk of falling into poverty. This paper outlines indicative data on trends relating to poverty and the nonpoor by different expenditure groups, and critically reviews the recent literature that contentiously labels such groups as “middle class.” The paper argues that such groups are neither extremely poor nor secure from poverty and that such groups are worthy of closer examination because their expansion may potentially have wider societal implications related, for example, to taxation, governance, and — ultimately — domestic politics.
Research Interests: Poverty and Inequality
ABSTRACT The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are widely cited as the primary yardstick against which advances in international development efforts are to be judged. At the same time, the Goals will be met or missed by 2015. It is not... more
ABSTRACT The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are widely cited as the primary yardstick against which advances in international development efforts are to be judged. At the same time, the Goals will be met or missed by 2015. It is not too early to start asking ‘what next?’ This paper builds on a discussion that has already begun to address potential approaches, goals and target indicators to help inform the process of developing a second generation of MDGs or ‘MDGs 2.0.’ The paper outlines potential goal areas based on the original Millennium Declaration, the timeframe for any MDGs 2.0 and attempts to calculate some reasonable targets associated with those goal areas.
ABSTRACT What have the MDGs achieved? And what might their achievements mean for any second generation of MDGs or MDGs 2.0? We argue that the MDGs may have played a role in increasing aid and that development policies beyond aid quantity... more
ABSTRACT What have the MDGs achieved? And what might their achievements mean for any second generation of MDGs or MDGs 2.0? We argue that the MDGs may have played a role in increasing aid and that development policies beyond aid quantity have seen some limited improvement in rich countries (the evidence on policy change in poor countries is weaker).Further, there is some evidence of faster-than-expected progress improving quality of life in developing countries since the Millennium Declaration, but the contribution of the MDGs themselves in speeding that progress is — of course — difficult to demonstrate even assuming the MDGs induced policy changes after 2002.The paper reflects on what the global goal setting experience of the MDGs has taught us and how things might be done differently if there is a new round of MDGs after 2015. The authors conclude that any MDGs 2.0 need targets that are set realistically and directly link aid flows to social policy change and to results.
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It is virtually undisputed that poverty is multi-dimensional. However, ‘economic’ or monetary measures of poverty still maintain a higher status in key development indicators and policy. This article is concerned with the apparent... more
It is virtually undisputed that poverty is multi-dimensional. However, ‘economic’ or monetary measures of poverty still maintain a higher status in key development indicators and policy. This article is concerned with the apparent contradiction between the consensus over the meaning of poverty and the choice of methods with which to measure poverty in practice. A brief history of the meaning
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Research Interests: Poverty, Community Development, Rural Development, Urban And Regional Planning, Pobreza, and 13 morePlace Marketing, Poverty Studies, Clasificación De Desarrollo, Low Income Countries, Países De Ingreso Bajo, Medium Income Countries, Países De Ingreso Medio, Development Classiffication, Taxonomía del desarrollo, Development Taxonomy, Country Classiffication, Clasificación De Países, and Technology for Community Development
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This paper discusses the measurement of poverty and well-being. A historical overview is given of the last fifty years. This is followed by discussion of three groupings of indicators: those measures based primarily on economic... more
This paper discusses the measurement of poverty and well-being. A historical overview is given of the last fifty years. This is followed by discussion of three groupings of indicators: those measures based primarily on economic well-being; those based on non-economic well-being and composite indicators. It is argued that the choice of indicator should reflect its purpose and that economic measures
This article is concerned with some initial reflections on the distinctive features of Development Studies (DS). The aim is to trigger further debate, rather than attempt ‘closure’. Discussion of the nature of DS is timely because of the... more
This article is concerned with some initial reflections on the distinctive features of Development Studies (DS). The aim is to trigger further debate, rather than attempt ‘closure’. Discussion of the nature of DS is timely because of the expansion of taught courses at various levels during the previous decade; because of sustained critiques of DS in recent years; and because