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A New Approach to the Direct Measurement of Consensual Poverty

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  • Bjorn Hallerod

Abstract

The direct consensual method of poverty measurement developed by Mack and Lansley (1985) in their study Poor Britain has been one of the most important contributions to modern poverty research. There are nevertheless several problems with Mack and Lansley's methodology, a number of which are discussed in this paper. An alternative method for measuring direct consensual poverty is proposed and it is argued that the method improves on the approach of Mack and Lansley in the following ways: it is less sensitive to the coverage of the initial list of consumption items on which the direct consensual measurement of poverty is based; it avoids some of the arbitrary decisions made by Mack and Lansley; it increases the sensitivity between the measurement of poverty and the preferences revealed by public opinion; and, at the same time, it decreases the sensitivity to particular individuals' preferences. An empirical comparison of Mack and Lansley's original approach and the proposed alternative method is conducted using a Swedish data set from 1992. This shows that both methods, apart from some minor differences, generate a high degree of consistency in the results. One important conclusion is therefore that Mack and Lansley's approach appears to produce robust and reliable results.

Suggested Citation

  • Bjorn Hallerod, 1994. "A New Approach to the Direct Measurement of Consensual Poverty," Discussion Papers 0050, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:sprcdp:0050
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    File URL: http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/dp/dp050.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter Saunders, 1994. "The Role, Value and Limitations of Poverty Research," Discussion Papers 0053, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    2. Sheila Shaver, 1992. "Body Rights, Social Rights and the Liberal Welfare State," Discussion Papers 0038, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Clements, Tom & Suon, Seng & Wilkie, David S. & Milner-Gulland, E.J., 2014. "Impacts of Protected Areas on Local Livelihoods in Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 125-134.
    3. RAILEANU SZELES Monica, 2007. "The patterns and causes of social exclusion in Luxembourg," IRISS Working Paper Series 2007-09, IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD.
    4. Rohini Ruhil, 2019. "Sociodemographic Determinants of Tobacco Use in India: Risks of Risk Factor—An Analysis of Global Adult Tobacco Survey India 2016-2017," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, April.
    5. Daria Popova & Alina Pishniak, 2017. "Measuring Individual Material Well-Being Using Multidimensional Indices: An Application Using the Gender and Generation Survey for Russia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 883-910, February.
    6. Marina Mero-Figueroa & Emilio Galdeano-Gómez & Laura Piedra-Muñoz & Moisés Obaco, 2020. "Measuring Well-Being: A Buen Vivir (Living Well) Indicator for Ecuador," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 265-287, November.

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