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Relative or Absolute Poverty Lines - A New Approach

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Author Info
David Madden (University College Dublin)

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Abstract

When measuring poverty over time analysts must choose the value of the income elasticity of the poverty line, which essentially determines whether an absolute or relative poverty line is being used. The choice of this parameter is ultimately a value judgement but this paper suggests an approach which has some empirical basis. Borrowing from the life-style and deprivation approach to poverty various dimensions of poverty and deprivation are identified and the income elasticity of these items is used as the income elasticity of the poverty line. Data from the 1987 and 1994 Irish Household Budget Surveys suggest an upper bound of 0.7 for this parameter. Poverty measures using a number of values of the income elasticity of the poverty line are presented and test statistics are presented to determine whether observed differences in poverty measures are statistically significant.

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File URL: http://www.ucd.ie/economics/research/papers/1999/WP99.09.pdf
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File Function: First version, 1999
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by School Of Economics, University College Dublin in its series Working Papers with number 199909.

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Length: 34 pages
Date of creation: 08 Oct 1999
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:199909

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Related research
Keywords: Poverty; Deprivation;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare
I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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. Richard Blundell & Ian Preston, 1998. "Consumption Inequality And Income Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(2), pages 603-640, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Deaton, Angus & Irish, Margaret, 1984. "Statistical models for zero expenditures in household budgets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1-2), pages 59-80. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Foster, James E, 1998. "Absolute versus Relative Poverty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 335-41, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Desai, Meghnad & Shah, Anup, 1988. "An Econometric Approach to the Measurement of Poverty," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 40(3), pages 505-22, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-66, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Heckman, James J, 1979. "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(1), pages 153-61, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Blundell, Richard & Meghir, Costas, 1987. "Bivariate alternatives to the Tobit model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 179-200. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Kimball, Miles S, 1990. "Precautionary Saving in the Small and in the Large," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 53-73, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Sen, Amartya K, 1976. "Poverty: An Ordinal Approach to Measurement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(2), pages 219-31, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Kay, J. A. & Keen, M. J. & Morris, C. N., 1984. "Estimating consumption from expenditure data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1-2), pages 169-181. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, 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. Christiaensen, Luc & Scott, Christopher & Wodon, Quentin, 2002. "Poverty Measurement and Analysis," MPRA Paper 11810, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Christophe Muller, 2005. "Defining Poverty Lines As A Fraction Of Central Tendency," Working Papers. Serie AD 2005-13, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Chiappero-Martinetti, Enrica & Civardi, Marisa, 2006. "Measuring poverty within and between population subgroups," IRISS Working Paper Series 2006-06, IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD. [Downloadable!]
  4. Coudouel, Aline & Hentschel, Jesko & Wodon, Quentin, 2002. "Измерение И Анализ Бедности
    [Poverty Measurement and Analysis]    ," MPRA Paper 10492, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Donal O'Neill, 2000. "Evaluating Labour Market Interventions," Economics, Finance and Accounting Department Working Paper Series n990300, Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting, National University of Ireland - Maynooth. [Downloadable!]
  6. David Madden, 2008. "Health and Income Poverty in Ireland, 2003-2006," Working Papers 200815, School Of Economics, University College Dublin. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Miles Corak, 2005. "Principles and Practicalities for Measuring Child Poverty in the Rich Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 1579, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  8. David Madden & Fiona Smith, 2000. "Poverty in Ireland, 1987-1994 - A Stochastic Dominance Approach," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 31(3), pages 187-214. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Coudouel, Aline & Hentschel, Jesko & Wodon, Quentin, 2002. "Mesure et analyse de la pauvreté
    [Poverty Measurement and Analysis]    ," MPRA Paper 10490, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  10. David Madden, 2002. "A Review of Recent Research into Poverty in Ireland," Working Papers 200232, School Of Economics, University College Dublin. [Downloadable!]
  11. Coudouel, Aline & Hentschel, Jesko & Wodon, Quentin, 2002. "Medición y análisis de la pobreza
    [Poverty Measurement and Analysis]    ," MPRA Paper 10491, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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