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Dollar a day revisited

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  • Ravallion, Martin
  • Chen, Shaohua
  • Sangraula, Prem

Abstract

The paper presents the first major update of the international"$1 a day"poverty line, first proposed in 1990 for measuring absolute poverty by the standards of the world's poorest countries. In a new data set of national povertylines we find that a marked economic gradient only emerges when consumption per person is above about $2.00 a day at 2005 purchasing power parity. Below this, the average poverty line is $1.25, which we propose as the new international poverty line. Relative poverty appears to matter more to developing countries than has been thought. The authors'proposed schedule of relative poverty lines is bounded below by $1.25, and rises at a gradient of $1 in $3 when mean consumption is above $2.00 a day.

Suggested Citation

  • Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua & Sangraula, Prem, 2008. "Dollar a day revisited," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4620, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4620
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oswald, Andrew J, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1815-1831, November.
    2. Martin Ravallion & Shaohua Chen & Prem Sangraula, 2007. "New Evidence on the Urbanization of Global Poverty," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 667-701, December.
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    20. Martin Ravallion & Gaurav Datt & Dominique van de Walle, 1991. "Quantifying Absolute Poverty In The Developing World," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 37(4), pages 345-361, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rural Poverty Reduction; Population Policies; Achieving Shared Growth; Urban Partnerships&Poverty;
    All these keywords.

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