Book
Measuring poverty and wellbeing in developing countries

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

Detailed analyses of poverty and wellbeing in developing countries, based on household surveys, have been ongoing for more than three decades. The large majority of developing countries now regularly conduct a variety of household surveys, and the information base in developing countries with respect to poverty and wellbeing has improved dramatically. Nevertheless, appropriate measurement of poverty remains complex and controversial. This is particularly true in developing countries where (i) the stakes with respect to poverty reduction are high; (ii) the determinants of living standards are often volatile; and (iii) related information bases, while much improved, are often characterized by significant non-sample error. 

It also remains, to a surprisingly high degree, an activity undertaken by technical assistance personnel and consultants based in developed countries. This book seeks to enhance the transparency, replicability, and comparability of existing practice. In so doing, it also aims to significantly lower the barriers to entry to the conduct of rigorous poverty measurement and increase the participation of analysts from developing countries in their own poverty assessments. 

The book focuses on two domains: the measurement of absolute consumption poverty and a first order dominance approach to multidimensional welfare analysis. In each domain, it provides a series of flexible computer codes designed to facilitate analysis by allowing the analyst to start from a flexible and known base. The book volume covers the theoretical grounding for the code streams provided, a chapter on 'estimation in practice', a series of 11 case studies where the code streams are operationalized, as well as a synthesis, an extension to inequality, and a look forward.

PLEASe and EFOD documentation
PLEASe EFOD
PLEASE_sample.zip EFOD_sample.zip

 

Table of contents
  1. PART I: PRINCIPLES AND CHOICES
    Measuring poverty and wellbeing in developing countries: motivation and overview
    Channing Arndt, Finn Tarp
  2. Absolute poverty lines
    Channing Arndt, Kristi Mahrt, Finn Tarp
    Blog
    | Poverty and wellbeing in Mozambique
    Working Paper
    | Absolute poverty lines
  3. Multidimensional first-order dominance comparisons of population wellbeing
    Channing Arndt, Nikolaj Siersbæk, Lars Peter Østerdal
    Working Paper
    | Multidimensional first-order dominance comparisons of population wellbeing
  4. Estimation in practice
    Channing Arndt, Kristi Mahrt
  5. PART II: COUNTRY APPLICATIONS
    Estimating utility-consistent poverty in Ethiopia, 2000-11
    David Stifel, Tassew Woldehanna
    Working Paper
    | Estimating utility-consistent poverty in Ethiopia, 2000–11
  6. Estimating utility-consistent poverty in Madagascar, 2001-10
    David Stifel, Tiaray Razafimanantena, Faly Rakotomanana
    Working Paper
    | Estimating utility-consistent poverty in Madagascar, 2001–10
  7. Methods matter: the sensitivity of Malawian poverty estimates to definitions, data, and assumptions
    Ulrik Beck, Richard Mussa, Karl Pauw
    Working Paper
    | Methods matter
  8. A review of consumption poverty estimation for Mozambique
    Channing Arndt, Sam Jones, Kristi Mahrt, Vincenzo Salvucci, Finn Tarp
    Working Paper
    | A review of consumption poverty estimation for Mozambique
  9. Poverty trends in Pakistan
    Hina Nazli, Edward Whitney, Kristi Mahrt
    Working Paper
    | Poverty trends in Pakistan
  10. Uganda: a new set of utility-consistent poverty lines
    Bjorn van Campenhout, Haruna Sekabira, Fiona Nattembo
    Working Paper
    | Uganda – A new set of utility consistent poverty lines
  11. Estimating multidimensional childhood poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo: 2007-2013
    Kristi Mahrt, Malokele Nanivazo
    Working Paper
    | Estimating multidimensional childhood poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2007 through 2013
  12. Child deprivation and income poverty in Ghana
    Raymond Elikplim Kofinti, Samuel Kobina Annim
    Working Paper
    | Child deprivation and income poverty in Ghana
  13. Spatial and temporal multidimensional poverty in Nigeria
    Olu Ajakaiye, Afeikhena T. Jerome, Olanrewaju Olaniyan, Olufunke A. Alaba, Kristi Mahrt
    Working Paper
    | Spatial and temporal multidimensional poverty in Nigeria
  14. Multidimensional assessment of child welfare for Tanzania
    Channing Arndt, Vincent Leyaro, Kristi Mahrt, Finn Tarp
    Working Paper
    | Multidimensional assessment of child welfare for Tanzania
  15. Estimating multidimensional poverty in Zambia
    Kristi Mahrt, Gibson Masumbu
    Working Paper
    | Estimating multidimensional poverty in Zambia
  16. PART III: SUMMING-UP AND LESSONS LEARNT
    Synthesis
    Channing Arndt, Kristi Mahrt, Finn Tarp
  17. Keep it real: measuring real inequality using survey data from developing countries
    Ulrik Beck
  18. Conclusions and looking forward
    Channing Arndt, Finn Tarp
  19. APPENDICES
    User guide to Poverty Line Estimation Analytical Software-PLEASe
    Channing Arndt, Ulrik Beck, Azhar Hussain, Kristi Mahrt, Kenneth Simler, Finn Tarp
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