The production process of the global MPI

The Global Multidmensional Poverty Index (MPI) is a cross-country poverty measure published by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative since 2010. The estimation requires household survey data because multidimensional poverty measures seek to exploit the joint distribution of deprivations in the identification step of poverty measurement. Analyses of multidimensional poverty draw on several aggregate measures (e.g., the headcount ratio), dimensional quantities (e.g., indicator contributions), and auxiliary statistics (e.g., non-response rates). Robustness analyses of key parameters (e.g., poverty cutoffs) and several levels of analysis (e.g., subnational regions) further increase the number of estimates. In 2018 the underlying workflow has been revised and subjected to continuous development, which for the first time allowed figures to be calculated for 105 countries in a single round. In 2021, this workflow was substantially expanded to include the estimation of changes over time. In 2021 the regular global MPI release includes 109 countries (with 1291 subnational regions) whereas changes over time are provided for 84 countries with 793 subnational regions over up to three years. In total this release builds on 220 micro datasets. For a large-scale project like this, a clear and efficient workflow is essential. This presentation introduces key elements of the workflow and presents solutions with Stata for particular problems, including the structure of a comprehensive results file, which facilitates both analysis and production of deliverables, the usability of the estimation files, the collaborative nature of the project, the country briefing production, and how some of the additional challenges introduced by the incorporation of changes over time have been addressed so far. This presentation seeks to share the gained experience and to subject both the principal workflow and selected solutions to public scrutiny.