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Distribution-sensitive multidimensional poverty measures with an application to India

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  • Gaurav Datt

Abstract

This paper presents axiomatic arguments to make the case for distribution-sensitive multidimensional poverty measures. The commonly-used counting measures violate the strong transfer axiom which requires regressive transfers to be unambiguously poverty-increasing and they are also invariant to changes in the distribution of a given set of deprivations amongst the poor. The paper provides axiomatic justification for distribution-sensitive multidimensional poverty measures by appealing to the strong transfer axiom as well as an additional cross-dimensional convexity axiom. Given the nonlinear structure of these measures, the paper also shows how the problem of an exact dimensional decomposition can be solved using Shapley decomposition methods to assess dimensional contributions to the poverty measures. An empirical illustration for India highlights distinctive features of the distribution-sensitive measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaurav Datt, 2017. "Distribution-sensitive multidimensional poverty measures with an application to India," Monash Economics Working Papers 06-17, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:mos:moswps:2017-06
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    Cited by:

    1. Leonardo Gasparini & Maria Emma Santos & Leopoldo Tornarolli, 2023. "Poverty in Latin America," Chapters, in: Jacques Silber (ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, chapter 63, pages 673-684, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Gaurav Datt, 2017. "Multidimensional Poverty in the Philippines, 2004-13: Do choices for weighting, identification and aggregation matter?," Monash Economics Working Papers 08-17, Monash University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    multidimensional poverty; poverty measurement; transfer axiom; cross-dimensional convexity; Shapley decomposition; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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