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Exploring the Absolutist Vs Relativist Perception of Poverty Using a Cross-Country Questionnaire Survey

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  • Luca Corazzini, Lucio Esposito, Francesca Majorano.

Abstract

Questionnaires eliciting the absolutist Vs relativist perception of poverty are administered to 1,941 undergraduate students in eight countries –Bolivia, Brazil, Italy, Kenya, Laos, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. We find that the perception of poverty expressed by a large fraction of respondents exhibits both absolutist and relativist concerns, with the former components prevailing over the latter. High-income countries exhibit a significantly more pronounced relativist attitude. Personal characteristics such as past experience of material hardship and relative standard of living play a germane role in shaping respondents’ views.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Corazzini, Lucio Esposito, Francesca Majorano., 2009. "Exploring the Absolutist Vs Relativist Perception of Poverty Using a Cross-Country Questionnaire Survey," ISLA Working Papers 32, ISLA, Centre for research on Latin American Studies and Transition Economies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:slp:islawp:islawp32
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    Cited by:

    1. DECERF, Benoit, 2014. "Income poverty measures with relative poverty lines," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2014022, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    2. Stefano Bartolini & Ennio Bilancini & Francesco Sarracino, 2013. "Predicting the Trend of Well-Being in Germany: How Much Do Comparisons, Adaptation and Sociability Matter?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 169-191, November.
    3. Benoit Decerf & Mery Ferrando, 2022. "Unambiguous Trends Combining Absolute and Relative Income Poverty: New Results and Global Application," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(3), pages 605-628.
    4. Benoit Decerf & Mery Ferrando, 2020. "Income Poverty has been Halved in the Developing World, even when Accounting for Relative Poverty," Working Papers 546, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    5. Serap Akfirat & Filiz Çömez Polat & Unsal Yetim, 2016. "How the Poor Deal with Their Own Poverty: A Social Psychological Analysis from the Social Identity Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 413-433, May.
    6. Edward Anderson & Lucio Esposito, 2014. "On the joint evaluation of absolute and relative deprivation," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(3), pages 411-428, September.
    7. Kebede, Bereket & Zizzo, Daniel John, 2015. "Social Preferences and Agricultural Innovation: An Experimental Case Study from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 267-280.
    8. Benoit Decerf, 2021. "Combining absolute and relative poverty: income poverty measurement with two poverty lines," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 56(2), pages 325-362, February.
    9. Alessandro Bucciol & Simona Cicognani & Luca Zarri, 2017. "The Status-Enhancing Power of Sociability," Working Paper series 17-15, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    10. Decerf, Benoit, 2017. "Why not consider that being absolutely poor is worse than being only relatively poor?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 79-92.
    11. Bavetta, Sebastiano & Li Donni, Paolo & Marino, Maria, 2020. "How consistent are perceptions of inequality?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Akay, Alpaslan & Martinsson, Peter & Medhin, Haileselassie, 2012. "Does Positional Concern Matter in Poor Societies? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 428-435.
    13. Alessandro Bucciol & Simona Cicognani & Luca Zarri, 2017. "The Social Status-Enhancing Power of Social Ties," Working Papers 04/2017, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    14. Ravallion, Martin, 2012. "Poor, or just feeling poor ? on using subjective data in measuring poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5968, The World Bank.
    15. Dartanto, Teguh & Otsubo, Shigeru, 2013. "Measurements and Determinants of Multifaceted Poverty:Absolute, Relative, and Subjective Poverty in Indonesia," Working Papers 54, JICA Research Institute.
    16. Bucciol Alessandro & Cicognani Simona & Zarri Luca, 2020. "Social Status Perception and Individual Social Capital: Evidence from the US," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, January.
    17. Decerf, B., 2015. "A new index combining the absolute and relative aspects of income poverty: Theory and application," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2015050, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    poverty perceptions; cross-country questionnaire survey.;

    JEL classification:

    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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