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Poverty prediction and targeting over time and space: Evidence from Nigeria

Author

Listed:
  • Marup Hossain
  • Lisa Jäckering
  • Conner Mullally
  • Paul Winters

Abstract

Understanding poverty dynamics is crucial to target and tailor economic policies in developing countries like Nigeria—a country at the risk of hosting about a quarter of all people living in poverty worldwide. To facilitate the targeting of poverty‐reducing interventions, we build a nationally representative panel dataset spanning 2011–2019 with more than a hundred covariates and apply econometric and machine learning tools to predict and examine factors associated with the static, transient, and persistent poverty status of Nigerian households. Results show that demographic factors, asset holdings, access to infrastructure, and housing indicators can accurately predict poverty in 80% of cases.

Suggested Citation

  • Marup Hossain & Lisa Jäckering & Conner Mullally & Paul Winters, 2025. "Poverty prediction and targeting over time and space: Evidence from Nigeria," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(3), pages 1191-1208, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:47:y:2025:i:3:p:1191-1208
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13515
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    References listed on IDEAS

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