Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty

Theory and Case Studies

verfasst von: Louis-Marie Asselin

Verlag: Springer New York

Buchreihe : Economic Studies in Inequality, Social Exclusion and Well-Being

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

Poverty is a paradoxical state. Recognizable in the eld for any sensitive observer who travels in remote rural areas and urban slums and meets marginalized people in a given society, poverty still remains a challenge to conceptual formalization and to measurement that is consistent with such formalization. The analysis of poverty is multidisciplinary. It goes from ethics to economics, from political science to human biology, and any type of measurement rests on mathematics. Moreover, poverty is multifaceted according to the types of deprivation, and it is also gender and age speci c. A vector of variables is required, which raises a substantial problem for individual and group comparisons necessary to equity analysis. Multidimension- ity also complicates the aggregation necessary to perform the ef ciency analysis of policies. In the case of income poverty, these two problems, equity and ef ciency, have bene ted from very signi cant progress in the eld of economics. Similar achievements are still to come in the area of multidimensional poverty. Within this general background, this book has a very modest and narrow-scoped objective. It proposes an operational methodology for measuring multidimensional poverty, independent from the conceptual origin, the size and the qualitative as well as the quantitative nature of the primary indicators used to describe the poverty of an individual, a household or a sociodemographic entity.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Theory

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

The technical problem that we are facing originates from the multidimensionality of the poverty concept, which is by now universally accepted. The form given to this multidimensionality depends on the definition given to poverty, for which there is not a unique formulation; however, there is usually a significant overlap among the various meanings found here and there. We would like to share with the readers the following definition, which expresses well our own views on poverty.

Louis-Marie Asselin

Chapter 2. Indicators and Multidimensionality Analysis

Abstract

Upstream from technical measurement issues, the selection of indicators constitutes an important conceptual step. Multidimensional poverty analysis cannot just stay at a formal level and escape the necessity to look deeply inside poverty vectors appearing here and there in the universal effort to capture the multiple facets of poverty.

Louis-Marie Asselin

Chapter 3. Composite Indicator of Poverty

Abstract

As stated in the introduction, our main objective is to operationalize multidimensional poverty comparisons. After some clarification on this objective and on a first methodological choice in Section 3.1, Section 3.2 presents a quick review of the main methodologies used to build a composite indicator of poverty (CIP). Our second methodological choice takes us to a short presentation of different variants of factorial approaches and to the argument supporting our third methodological choice, the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) technique (Section 3.3). Finally, Section 3.4 develops the MCA technique and illustrates it with a numerical case study on Vietnam.

Louis-Marie Asselin

Chapter 4. Multidimensional Poverty and Inequality Analysis

Abstract

According to our two-step approach to multidimensional poverty indices, we come out of the first step with a composite indicator of poverty (CIP) that is positive and whose increase is interpreted as a better basic welfare. This CIP then has the technical characteristics of an “income” indicator, and any money-metric technique developed for poverty and inequality analysis can in principle be applied to this CIP. Such applications are not developed here and are left to case studies presented in Part II.

Louis-Marie Asselin

Chapter 5. Conclusion

Abstract

Multidimensional poverty is a complex concept. It is important to explore its philosophical and ethical roots (Section 1 and Appendix A), because methodological choices at crucial steps of measurement rely on values. The first concrete form of the concept is a vector of K primary indicators, K > 1, with a different structure for each application. The poverty vector structure is described in Section 2 through the notions of poverty dimension and subdimension, poverty type, pure and extended indicator, and poverty by inclusion with endogenous and exogenous transmission. Tools like the Poverty Concept Structure are designed to visualize and compare these conceptual structures and highlight implicit weighting at the very beginning of the measurement operation. These tools are applied to real and well-known poverty vectors (Section 2.3 and Appendix B).

Louis-Marie Asselin

Case Studies

Frontmatter

Chapter 6. Case Study # Multidimensional Poverty in Senegal: A Nonmonetary Basic Needs Approach

Abstract

An appreciation of poverty that is as complete as possible constitutes an essential step in the analysis of the causes of poverty and in the formulation of policies to combat it. The monetary approach is not sufficient to capture the multiple aspects of poverty: a multidimensional analysis is also needed. The main objective of this research is therefore to construct a composite indicator of poverty using a basic needs approach. The analysis shows that the most widespread forms of poverty in Senegal are related to the vulnerability of human existence and to the lack of infrastructures, elements of comfort, and equipment. We estimate the incidence of multidimensional poverty to reach 60%, compared to 48.5% for monetary poverty. Rural areas are particularly affected by nonmonetary poverty whereas urban areas are affected more by monetary poverty in spite of the existence of human capital and basic infrastructures. The two types of poverty are quite strongly and positively correlated.

Louis-Marie Asselin

Chapter 7. Case Study # 2 Dynamic Poverty Analysis in Vietnam 1993–2002: Multidimensional Versus Money-Metric Analysis

Abstract

In 1986, 10 years after the country’s reunification, the Doi Moi (renovation) was initiated in Vietnam as a process of reform from a centrally planned system to a market-based economy.^1, ² “The underlying strategy of doi moi was to introduce market principles to enhance the efficiency of the economy, while at the same time preserving a central role for the state in economic management. Implementation gathered momentum in 1989 when price controls were largely phased out and agriculture reverted to family farming as opposed to farming based on collectives.”³ Measures under this reform program concerned all economic sectors during the period 1989–1996: these included reforms in agriculture, prices, exchange rate, interest rate, fiscal sector, foreign trade and investment, financial sector, state enterprises, and the private sector. “Under the reform program, Vietnam has achieved rapid growth. From a low of 4% in 1987, the annual rate of growth has increased to over 9% in both 1995 and 1996, averaging 7.3% annually for the past decade.

Louis-Marie Asselin

Backmatter

Titel: Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty
verfasst von: Louis-Marie Asselin
Verlag: Springer New York
Electronic ISBN: 978-1-4419-0843-8
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0905-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0843-8