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Targeting the Vulnerable and the Choice of Vulnerability Measures: Review and Application to Pakistan

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  • Kurosaki, Takashi
  • 黒崎, 卓

Abstract

In this paper, the concept of vulnerability of the poor’s welfare and its practical measures are scrutinized in order to derive implications for targeting poverty reduction policies toward vulnerable households. As illustration, various measures of vulnerability proposed in the literature are applied to a panel dataset collected in rural Pakistan. The empirical results show that different vulnerability rankings can be obtained depending on the choice of the measure. By utilizing these measures, we can identify who and which region is more vulnerable to a particular type of risk. This kind of information is useful in targeting poverty reduction policies. Since the nature of vulnerability is diverse, it is advisable to use the whole vector of various vulnerability measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurosaki, Takashi & 黒崎, 卓, 2010. "Targeting the Vulnerable and the Choice of Vulnerability Measures: Review and Application to Pakistan," PRIMCED Discussion Paper Series 1, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hit:primdp:1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kurosaki, Takashi & Khan, Humayun & Shah, Mir Kalan & Tahir, Muhammad, 2011. "Natural Disasters, Relief Aid, and Household Vulnerability in Pakistan: Evidence from a Pilot Survey in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," PRIMCED Discussion Paper Series 12, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    2. Rashida Haq, 2015. "Quantifying Vulnerability to Poverty in a Developing Economy," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 915-929.
    3. Hardeweg, Bernd & Wagener, Andreas & Waibel, Hermann, 2013. "A distributional approach to comparing vulnerability, applied to rural provinces in Thailand and Vietnam," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 53-65.
    4. Rashida Haq, 2015. "Shocks as a Source of Vulnerability: An Empirical Investigation from Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 245-272.
    5. Azeem, Muhammad Masood & Mugera, Amin W. & Schilizzi, Steven, 2016. "Living on the edge: Household vulnerability to food-insecurity in the Punjab, Pakistan," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-13.
    6. Azeem, Muhammad Masood & Mugera, Amin W. & Schilizzi, Steven, 2016. "Poverty and vulnerability in the Punjab, Pakistan: A multilevel analysis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 57-72.
    7. Rashida Haq, 2012. "Shocks as a Source of Vulnerability: An Empirical Investigation from Pakistan," Poverty and Social Dynamics Paper Series 2012:06, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    vulnerability; poverty; risk; consumption smoothing; Pakistan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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