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A Comparison of Two Simple, Low-Cost Ways for Local, Pro-Poor Organizations to Measure the Poverty of Their Participants

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  • Mark Schreiner

Abstract

The poverty scorecard and the Poverty Assessment Tool (PAT) are two simple, low-cost ways for local, pro-poor organizations to measure the expenditure-based poverty of their participants and thus to report on (and manage) their social performance. How do the two tools differ? For estimating a group’s poverty rate, both are unbiased, and the scorecard has smaller standard errors. For targeting individual households, the PAT correctly classifies about one more household per 100. The scorecard has had greater up-take due to its edge in availability, recentness, and transparency. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

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  • Mark Schreiner, 2015. "A Comparison of Two Simple, Low-Cost Ways for Local, Pro-Poor Organizations to Measure the Poverty of Their Participants," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 537-569, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:124:y:2015:i:2:p:537-569
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-014-0789-1
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