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Measuring poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean : methodological considerations when estimating an empirical regional poverty line

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  • Castaneda Aguilar,Raul Andres
  • Gasparini,Leonardo Carlos
  • Garriga,Santiago
  • Lucchetti,Leonardo Ramiro
  • Valderrama Gonzalez,Daniel

Abstract

This paper contributes to the methodological literature on the estimation of poverty lines for country poverty comparisons in Latin America and the Caribbean. The paper exploits a unique, comprehensive data set of 86 up-to-date urban official extreme and moderate poverty lines across 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the recent values of the national purchasing power parity conversion factors from the 2011 International Comparison Program and a set of harmonized household surveys that are part of the Socio-Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean project. Because of the dispersion of country-specific poverty lines, the paper concludes that the value of a regional poverty line largely depends on the selected aggregation method, which ends up having a direct impact on the estimation of regional extreme and moderate poverty headcounts.

Suggested Citation

  • Castaneda Aguilar,Raul Andres & Gasparini,Leonardo Carlos & Garriga,Santiago & Lucchetti,Leonardo Ramiro & Valderrama Gonzalez,Daniel, 2016. "Measuring poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean : methodological considerations when estimating an empirical regional poverty line," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7621, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7621
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Jolliffe, Dean & Prydz, Espen Beer, 2015. "Global Poverty Goals and Prices: How Purchasing Power Parity Matters," IZA Discussion Papers 9064, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    6. 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.
    7. Francisco H.G. Ferreira & Julian Messina & Jamele Rigolini & Luis-Felipe López-Calva & Maria Ana Lugo & Renos Vakis, 2013. "Economic Mobility and the Rise of the Latin American Middle Class [La movilidad económica y el crecimiento de la clase media en América Latina]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11858, December.
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    1. Measuring poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean : methodological considerations when estimating an empirical regional poverty line
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2016-07-21 23:16:43

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty Assessment; Small Area Estimation Poverty Mapping; Poverty Monitoring&Analysis; Poverty Lines; Poverty Impact Evaluation; Poverty Diagnostics;
    All these keywords.

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