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Vulnerability to asset-poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa

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  • Echevin, Damien

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology to measure vulnerability to asset-poverty. Using repeated cross-section data, age cohort decomposition techniques focusing on second-order moments can be used to identify and estimate the variance of shocks on assets and, therefore, the probability of being poor in the future. Estimates from the Ghana Living Standard Surveys show that expected asset-poverty is a reliable proxy for expected consumption-poverty. Applying the methodology to nine Demographic Health Surveys countries, urban areas are found to unambiguously dominate rural areas over the unidimensional distribution of expected future asset-wealth, as they also generally do over the bi-dimensional distribution of present asset-wealth and expected future asset-wealth.

Suggested Citation

  • Echevin, Damien, 2011. "Vulnerability to asset-poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 35660, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:35660
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    Cited by:

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    2. Vladimir Hlasny & Shireen AlAzzawi, 2018. "Return migration and socioeconomic mobility in MENA: Evidence from labour market panel surveys," WIDER Working Paper Series 035, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. AlAzzawi, Shireen & Hlasny, Vladimir, 2019. "Household asset wealth and female labor supply in MENA," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 3-13.
    4. Sagarika Dey, 2018. "The Role of Employment Diversification in Reducing Vulnerability to Poverty among Marginal and Small-holder Agricultural Households in India," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 12(1), pages 88-112, February.
    5. Hlasny, Vladimir & AlAzzawi, Shireen, 2019. "Asset inequality in the MENA: The missing dimension?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 44-55.
    6. Swati Dutta & Lakshmi Kumar, 2016. "Is Poverty Stochastic or Structural in Nature? Evidence from Rural India," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 957-979, September.
    7. Echevin, Damien, 2011. "Vulnerability and livelihoods before and after the Haiti earthquake," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5850, The World Bank.
    8. Vladimir Hlasny & Shireen AlAzzawi, 2018. "Return migration and socioeconomic mobility in MENA: Evidence from labour market panel surveys," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-35, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    vulnerability; poverty; wealth; pseudo panel; stochastic dominance; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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