120 likes | 355 Views
High Level Meeting on Poverty, Equity and Social Inclusion II Plenary Session: Challenges on the Measurement of Poverty and Inequality Gaps. Isla Margarita, Venezuela October 8-10, 2003. General Overview: Measuring Poverty. Definition Metrics Parameters Inputs Methodology Usefulness
E N D
High Level Meeting on Poverty, Equity and Social InclusionII Plenary Session: Challenges on the Measurement of Poverty and Inequality Gaps Isla Margarita, Venezuela October 8-10, 2003
General Overview: Measuring Poverty • Definition • Metrics • Parameters • Inputs • Methodology • Usefulness • Final thoughts
Definition • Multidimensional phenomena. • “Easy” to recognize. • Hard to define. • Agreement that it is about insufficiency: • Income. • Expenditure capacity (“consumption”). • Opportunities. • Access to services.
Metric • Indicator that captures the multidimensionality of the concept best. • That allows to quantify it. • Indicator that can be measured (collected). • Indicator that is not more complex than the concept it is trying to measure.
Metric: Options • Monetary: • Income. • Expenditure (“consumption”). • Access to services/opportunities. • Have been used, they reflect a reality that goes beyond its basic definition.
Parameters • Once there is a unit of measure. • Necessary to establish points of reference. • Most utilized: • With monetary metric: Poverty Line. • In terms of access to services/opportunities: Unsatisfied Basic Needs.
Parameters • Each has its own characteristics. • Poverty Line: • Contents of the goods basket: • Nutritional Level. • Patterns of consumption. • Other goods (health, education, housing). • Unsatisfied Basic Needs: • Selection of needs. • Minimum levels. • Priorities.
Inputs • Starting and basic issue. • Quality of indicators/estimations is directly proportional to the quality of the basic information. • Quality in terms of: • Opportunity. • Coverage. • Access. • Sources: • Household surveys. • Census.
Methodology • Methodologies have details that impact the measures and that must be taken into consideration: • Poverty Line: • Adult equivalent. • Economies of scale. • Regional differentials. • Use value of assets (house). • Unsatisfied Basic Needs: • Selection. • Ranking. • Weighting. • Each number has a story.
Methodology • Decisions about methodology: • Use that will be given to the estimations. • Desired level of disaggregation. • Periodicity of estimations. • Availability of information.
Usefulness • Measure not just to measure. • Measure to characterize: poverty profiles. • Measure to identify: causes, effects, etc. • Ideally the methodology could be used to identify areas/sectors in need, program beneficiaries.
Thoughts • Independently of the method used it is essential that the estimation process is: • Based on quality data. • Consistent (trends are important). • Transparent. • Replicable (access to data and methodology). • Easy to understand/communicate. • Useful in the decision making process.