IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2016-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Absolute poverty lines

Author

Listed:
  • Channing Arndt
  • Kristi Mahrt
  • Finn Tarp

Abstract

Private consumption capabilities form only one facet of comprehensive living standards assessments, but they are an important facet whose measurement should be done well. Measurement is complex due to a multitude of methodological choices, which often interact with imperfect data and a desire for comparability through time. This paper outlines ideas underpinning these choices with particular attention to the tensions between consistency and specificity. We also highlight a series of limitations associated with typical cost of basic needs approaches.

Suggested Citation

  • Channing Arndt & Kristi Mahrt & Finn Tarp, 2016. "Absolute poverty lines," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-8, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2016-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2016-8.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ravallion, Martin, 2016. "The Economics of Poverty: History, Measurement, and Policy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190212773.
    2. Erik Thorbecke, 2004. "Conceptual and Measurement Issues in Poverty Analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2004-04, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Channing Arndt & Kenneth R. Simler, 2007. "Consistent poverty comparisons and inference," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 37(2‐3), pages 133-139, September.
    4. Mukherjee, Sanjukta & Benson, Todd, 2003. "The Determinants of Poverty in Malawi, 1998," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 339-358, February.
    5. Channing Arndt & Kenneth R. Simler, 2010. "Estimating Utility-Consistent Poverty Lines with Applications to Egypt and Mozambique," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(3), pages 449-474, April.
    6. Ravallion, Martin & Bidani, Benu, 1994. "How Robust Is a Poverty Profile?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 8(1), pages 75-102, January.
    7. Gibson, John & Rozelle, Scott, 2003. "Poverty and Access to Roads in Papua New Guinea," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 159-185, October.
    8. Quentin Wodon, 1997. "Food energy intake and cost of basic needs: Measuring poverty in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 66-101.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Channing Arndt & Kristi Mahrt & Finn Tarp, 2016. "Absolute poverty lines," WIDER Working Paper Series 008, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Emily Schmidt & Rachel Gilbert & Brian Holtemeyer & Kristi Mahrt, 2021. "Poverty analysis in the lowlands of Papua New Guinea underscores climate vulnerability and need for income flexibility," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(1), pages 171-191, January.
    3. Wim Marivoet & Tom De Herdt, 2015. "Poverty Lines as Context Deflators: A Method to Account for Regional Diversity with Application to the Democratic Republic of Congo," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(2), pages 329-352, June.
    4. Hina Nazli & Edward Whitney & Kristi Mahrt, 2015. "Poverty trends in Pakistan," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-136, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Van Campenhout, Bjorn & Ssekabira, Haruna & Aduayom, Dede H., 2014. "Consumption bundle aggregation in poverty measurement: Implications for poverty and its dynamics in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 150, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Hina Nazli & Edward Whitney & Kristi Mahrt, 2015. "Poverty trends in Pakistan," WIDER Working Paper Series 136, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Bjorn van Campenhout & Haruna Sekabira & Dede H. Aduayom, 2014. "Consumption Bundle Aggregation in Poverty Measurement: Implications for Poverty and its Dynamics in Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-150, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Bjorn van Campenhout & Haruna Sekabira & Fiona Nattembo, 2015. "Uganda - A new set of utility consistent poverty lines," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-129, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Channing Arndt & Sam Jones & Kristi Mahrt & Vincenzo Salvucci & Finn Tarp, 2016. "A review of consumption poverty estimation for Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series 035, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Balint Menyhert, 2024. "Absolute Poverty Measurement with Minimum Food Needs: A New Inverse Method for Advanced Economies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 313-351, August.
    11. Kenneth R. Simler & Channing Arndt, 2007. "Poverty Comparisons With Absolute Poverty Lines Estimated From Survey Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 53(2), pages 275-294, June.
    12. Channing Arndt & Sam Jones & Kristi Mahrt & Vincenzo Salvucci & Finn Tarp, 2016. "A review of consumption poverty estimation for Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-35, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Bjorn Van Campenhout & Haruna Sekabira & Fiona Nattembo, 2015. "Uganda - A new set of utility consistent poverty line," WIDER Working Paper Series 129, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Ravallion, Martin & Lokshin, Michael, 2003. "On the utility consistency of poverty lines," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3157, The World Bank.
    15. Coudouel, Aline & Hentschel, Jesko & Wodon, Quentin, 2002. "Измерение И Анализ Бедности [Poverty Measurement and Analysis]," MPRA Paper 10492, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Channing Arndt & Sam Jones & Vincenzo Salvucci, 2015. "When do relative prices matter for measuring income inequality? The case of food prices in Mozambique," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 13(3), pages 449-464, September.
    17. Moatsos Michail, 2016. "Global Absolute Poverty: Behind the Veil of Dollars," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-28, December.
    18. Jed Friedman, 2003. "How Responsive is Poverty to Growth? A Regional Analysis of Poverty, Inequality, and Growth in Indonesia, 1984-99," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2003-57, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Hobbes, Marieke & De Groot, Wouter T. & Van Der Voet, Ester & Sarkhel, Sukanya, 2011. "Freely Disposable Time: A Time and Money Integrated Measure of Poverty and Freedom," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2055-2068.
    20. Asma Zedini & Besma Belhadj, 2015. "A New Approach to Unidimensional Poverty Analysis: Application to the Tunisian Case," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(3), pages 465-476, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2016-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.