International Comparisons of Poverty in South Asia
This paper explores the methodological differences underlying the construction of the national consumption aggregates that are used to estimate international poverty rates for all countries in the South Asia region, including Afghanistan, Banglades...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/805971545243107437/International-Comparisons-of-Poverty-in-South-Asia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31085 |
| Summary: | This paper explores the methodological
differences underlying the construction of the national
consumption aggregates that are used to estimate
international poverty rates for all countries in the South
Asia region, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The
analysis draws on a regional dataset of standardized
consumption aggregates to assess the sensitivity of
international poverty rates to the items included in
national consumption aggregates. A key feature of the
standardized aggregate is that it includes the reported
value of housing rent for urban Indian homeowners. Using the
standardized consumption aggregates reduces the
international poverty rate in South Asia by 1.3 percentage
points, or about 18.5 million people. Comparing standardized
and non-standardized monetary welfare indicators to other
nonmonetary indicators suggests that the latter are more
consistent with the standardized consumption aggregates.
Overall, the results strongly suggest that harmonizing the
construction of welfare measures, particularly the treatment
of imputed rent, can meaningfully improve the accuracy of
international poverty comparisons. |
|---|