How poverty is measured impacts who gets classified as impoverished

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Pu, Christine J.; Lambin, Eric F.; Kusimakwe, Ian; Gichia, Lenny; Seme, Assefa; Otupiri, Easmon; Davis, Jennifer
• 署名单位: Stanford University; Stanford University; Stanford University; Universite Catholique Louvain; Addis Ababa University; Kwame Nkrumah University Science & Technology
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13293
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316730121
• 发表日期: 2024-02-07
• 关键词: poor; DYNAMICS; achieve

摘要

We test whether the classification of households into poverty categories is meaningfully influenced by the poverty measurement approach that is employed. These classification techniques are widely used by governments, non - profit organizations, and development agencies for policy design and implementation. Using primary data collected in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Uganda, we find almost no agreement in how four commonly used approaches rank 16,150 households in terms of poverty status. This result holds for each country, for urban and rural households, and across the entire socio- economic distribution. Households' poverty rankings differ by an entire quartile on average. Conclusions about progress toward poverty alleviation goals may depend in large part on how poverty is measured. Significance A wide array of organizations measure poverty to inform their operations. They use a correspondingly diverse set of indicators to do so. In our study across three countries in sub- Saharan Africa, we find almost no agreement in how four commonly used measurement approaches rank 16,150 households in terms of poverty status. Our results suggest that conclusions drawn by an organization about progress toward their poverty alleviation objectives may in large part depend on how they choose to measure poverty.