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Person Equivalent Headcount Measures of Poverty

In: Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Tony Castleman

    (George Washington University)

  • James E. Foster

    (George Washington University)

  • Stephen C. Smith

    (George Washington University)

Abstract

The most common tools for monitoring poverty are headcount measures, which evaluate a country’s poverty level using the number or prevalence of poor persons in the country. Yet as emphasized by Sen (1976), headcount measures have serious limitations stemming from their inability to differentiate among the poor.1 Large changes in incomes of the poor are ignored when the incomes stay below the poverty line, while small changes near the line can disproportionately affect measured poverty. Alternative poverty measures have been developed that address this problem by accounting for the intensity of poverty; but these measures are typically absent from policy discussions as they can be viewed as challenging for policymakers to explain intuitively, or for the public to understand.

Suggested Citation

  • Tony Castleman & James E. Foster & Stephen C. Smith, 2016. "Person Equivalent Headcount Measures of Poverty," International Economic Association Series, in: Kaushik Basu & Joseph E. Stiglitz (ed.), Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy, chapter 3, pages 101-130, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:intecp:978-1-137-55454-3_3
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137554543_3
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    Cited by:

    1. Bhattarai, Keshab & Ossai, Lucky, 2024. "Income Inequality, Terrorism, and Poverty: The Economic Perspective of the Terrorised," MPRA Paper 123312, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Sep 2024.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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