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Subjective well-being poverty vs . Income poverty and capabilities poverty?

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Author Info
Geeta Kingdon
John Knight

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Abstract

The conventional approach of economists to the measurement of poverty is to use measures of income or consumption. This has been challenged by those who favour broader criteria, such as fulfilment of 'basic needs’ and the 'capabilities’ to be and to do things of intrinsic worth. This paper asks: to what extent are these different concepts measurable, to what extent are they competing or complementary, and is it possible for them to be accommodated within an encompassing framework? We conclude that it is possible to view subjective well-being as an encompassing concept, which permits us to quantify the relevance and importance of the other approaches and of their component variables. Any attempt to define poverty involves a value judgment as to what constitutes a good quality of life or a bad one. We argue that an approach which examines the individual's own perception of well-being is less imperfect, or more quantifiable, or both, as a guide to forming that value judgement than are the other potential approaches. The argument is illustrated using a South African household survey.

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Article provided by Taylor and Francis Journals in its journal The Journal of Development Studies.

Volume (Year): 42 (2006)
Issue (Month): 7 (October)
Pages: 1199-1224
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Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:42:y:2006:i:7:p:1199-1224

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Ravallion, Martin & Lokshin, Michael, 2002. "Self-rated economic welfare in Russia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1453-1473, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Ravallion, Martin & Lokshin, Michael, 2001. "Identifying Welfare Effects from Subjective Questions," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(271), pages 335-57, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Geeta Kingdon & John Knight, 2004. "Community, Comparisons and Subjective Well-being in a Divided Society," Development and Comp Systems 0409067, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Gardner, Jonathan & Andrew Oswald, 2002. "Does Money Buy Happiness? A Longitudinal Study Using Data on Windfalls," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2002 81, Royal Economic Society. [Downloadable!]
  5. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
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  6. Winkelmann, Liliana & Winkelmann, Rainer, 1998. "Why Are the Unemployed So Unhappy? Evidence from Panel Data," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 65(257), pages 1-15, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-59, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
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  1. Jorge Guardiola & Teresa Garcia-Muñoz, 2009. "Subjective well-being and basic needs: Evidence from rural Guatemala," ThE Papers 09/03, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada.. [Downloadable!]
  2. Francisco Gonzalez-Gomez & Jorge Guardiola & Teresa Garcia-Muñoz, 2009. "The link between water access and subjective well-being: some methods and proposals," ThE Papers 09/02, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada.. [Downloadable!]
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