On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty

There has been a growing interest in what have come to be termed "multidimensional indices of poverty." Advocates for these new indices correctly point out that command over market goods is not all that matters to peoples' well-being...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ravallion, Martin
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110228142416
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3346
id okr-10986-3346
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-33462021-04-23T14:02:09Z On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty Ravallion, Martin ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER ACCESS TO SERVICES AGGREGATE POVERTY AVERAGE INCOME CHILD MORTALITY CONFLICT CONSUMPTION MEASURE CONSUMPTION POVERTY COUNTRY LEVEL DATA SETS DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY MEASURES DERIVATIVES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT GOALS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH DIMENSIONS OF POVERTY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMIC STUDIES ECONOMICS EDUCATION POVERTY EXPENDITURE EXPENDITURES FUNCTIONAL FORM HIGH INFLATION HOLDING HOUSEHOLD BUDGET HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD SIZE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT INCIDENCE OF POVERTY INCOME INCOME POVERTY INEQUALITY INFLATION INTERNATIONAL BANK INTRINSIC VALUE LIVING STANDARDS MALNUTRITION MARKET DISTORTIONS MARKET ECONOMY MARKET PRICES MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY MEASURING POVERTY NONMARKET GOODS NUTRITION POLICY MAKERS POLICY RESEARCH POOR POOR HOUSEHOLDS POOR PEOPLE POVERTY ASSESSMENTS POVERTY COMPARISONS POVERTY INDICES POVERTY LEVEL POVERTY LINE POVERTY LINES POVERTY MEASURE POVERTY MEASUREMENT POVERTY MEASURES POVERTY MONITORING EFFORTS POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY PAPERS PRICE INDICES RELATIVE PRICES SCHOOLING SHADOW PRICE SHADOW PRICES SUBSTITUTION TRANSFER PAYMENT VALUATION There has been a growing interest in what have come to be termed "multidimensional indices of poverty." Advocates for these new indices correctly point out that command over market goods is not all that matters to peoples' well-being, and that other factors need to be considered when quantifying the extent of poverty and informing policy making for fighting poverty. However, the author argues that there are two poorly understood issues in assessing these indices. First, does one believe that any single index can ever be a sufficient statistic for poverty assessments? Second, when aggregation is called for, should it be done in the space of "attainments," using prices when appropriate, or that of "deprivations," using weights set by the analyst? The paper argues that the goal for future poverty monitoring efforts should be to develop a credible set of multiple indices, spanning the dimensions of poverty most relevant to a specific setting, rather than a single multidimensional index. When weights are needed, they shouldn't be set solely by an analyst measuring poverty. Rather, they should be, as much as possible, consistent with well-informed choices made by poor people. 2012-03-19T18:00:44Z 2012-03-19T18:00:44Z 2011-02-01 http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110228142416 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3346 English Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5580 4737 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper The World Region The World Region
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE
ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER
ACCESS TO SERVICES
AGGREGATE POVERTY
AVERAGE INCOME
CHILD MORTALITY
CONFLICT
CONSUMPTION MEASURE
CONSUMPTION POVERTY
COUNTRY LEVEL
DATA SETS
DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY
DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY MEASURES
DERIVATIVES
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH
DIMENSIONS OF POVERTY
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
ECONOMIC STUDIES
ECONOMICS
EDUCATION POVERTY
EXPENDITURE
EXPENDITURES
FUNCTIONAL FORM
HIGH INFLATION
HOLDING
HOUSEHOLD BUDGET
HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION
HOUSEHOLD SIZE
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
INCIDENCE OF POVERTY
INCOME
INCOME POVERTY
INEQUALITY
INFLATION
INTERNATIONAL BANK
INTRINSIC VALUE
LIVING STANDARDS
MALNUTRITION
MARKET DISTORTIONS
MARKET ECONOMY
MARKET PRICES
MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY
MEASURING POVERTY
NONMARKET GOODS
NUTRITION
POLICY MAKERS
POLICY RESEARCH
POOR
POOR HOUSEHOLDS
POOR PEOPLE
POVERTY ASSESSMENTS
POVERTY COMPARISONS
POVERTY INDICES
POVERTY LEVEL
POVERTY LINE
POVERTY LINES
POVERTY MEASURE
POVERTY MEASUREMENT
POVERTY MEASURES
POVERTY MONITORING EFFORTS
POVERTY REDUCTION
POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY
POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY PAPERS
PRICE INDICES
RELATIVE PRICES
SCHOOLING
SHADOW PRICE
SHADOW PRICES
SUBSTITUTION
TRANSFER PAYMENT
VALUATION
spellingShingle ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE
ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER
ACCESS TO SERVICES
AGGREGATE POVERTY
AVERAGE INCOME
CHILD MORTALITY
CONFLICT
CONSUMPTION MEASURE
CONSUMPTION POVERTY
COUNTRY LEVEL
DATA SETS
DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY
DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY MEASURES
DERIVATIVES
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH
DIMENSIONS OF POVERTY
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
ECONOMIC STUDIES
ECONOMICS
EDUCATION POVERTY
EXPENDITURE
EXPENDITURES
FUNCTIONAL FORM
HIGH INFLATION
HOLDING
HOUSEHOLD BUDGET
HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION
HOUSEHOLD SIZE
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
INCIDENCE OF POVERTY
INCOME
INCOME POVERTY
INEQUALITY
INFLATION
INTERNATIONAL BANK
INTRINSIC VALUE
LIVING STANDARDS
MALNUTRITION
MARKET DISTORTIONS
MARKET ECONOMY
MARKET PRICES
MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY
MEASURING POVERTY
NONMARKET GOODS
NUTRITION
POLICY MAKERS
POLICY RESEARCH
POOR
POOR HOUSEHOLDS
POOR PEOPLE
POVERTY ASSESSMENTS
POVERTY COMPARISONS
POVERTY INDICES
POVERTY LEVEL
POVERTY LINE
POVERTY LINES
POVERTY MEASURE
POVERTY MEASUREMENT
POVERTY MEASURES
POVERTY MONITORING EFFORTS
POVERTY REDUCTION
POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY
POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY PAPERS
PRICE INDICES
RELATIVE PRICES
SCHOOLING
SHADOW PRICE
SHADOW PRICES
SUBSTITUTION
TRANSFER PAYMENT
VALUATION
Ravallion, Martin
On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty
geographic_facet The World Region
The World Region
relation Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 5580
description There has been a growing interest in what have come to be termed "multidimensional indices of poverty." Advocates for these new indices correctly point out that command over market goods is not all that matters to peoples' well-being, and that other factors need to be considered when quantifying the extent of poverty and informing policy making for fighting poverty. However, the author argues that there are two poorly understood issues in assessing these indices. First, does one believe that any single index can ever be a sufficient statistic for poverty assessments? Second, when aggregation is called for, should it be done in the space of "attainments," using prices when appropriate, or that of "deprivations," using weights set by the analyst? The paper argues that the goal for future poverty monitoring efforts should be to develop a credible set of multiple indices, spanning the dimensions of poverty most relevant to a specific setting, rather than a single multidimensional index. When weights are needed, they shouldn't be set solely by an analyst measuring poverty. Rather, they should be, as much as possible, consistent with well-informed choices made by poor people.
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author Ravallion, Martin
author_facet Ravallion, Martin
author_sort Ravallion, Martin
title On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty
title_short On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty
title_full On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty
title_fullStr On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty
title_full_unstemmed On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty
title_sort on multidimensional indices of poverty
publishDate 2012
url http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20110228142416
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3346
_version_ 1764386831691939840