Poverty lines in theory and practice

About

Countries

Data & Research

Learning

News

Projects & Operations

Publications

Topics

Home > Data & Research > Document Search > Report Details

Poverty lines in theory and practice, Volume 1

Author:	Ravallion, Martin;	Collection Title:	Living standards measurement study (LSMS) working paper ; no. LSM 133
Date Stored:	2003/01/24	Document Date:	1998/07/31
Document Type:	Publication	ISBN:	ISBN 0-8213-4226-6
Language:	English	Major Sector:	(Historic)Social Protection
Report Number:	LSM133	Sub Sectors:	(Historic)Other social protection
SubTopics:	Achieving Shared Growth; Environmental Economics & Policies; Poverty Lines; Poverty Assessment; Urban Partnerships & Poverty	Volume No:	1

Summary: As a part of the Living Standards Measurement Study, this paper presents a critical overview of alternative approaches towards setting poverty lines, which: a) define the minimum level of living standards before being considered "poor"; and, b) make comparisons among these minimum levels, for families of different size and/or composition in different locations and time. The paper argues that economists have emphasized the second role, while generally ignoring the first. Experience suggests that the poverty measures obtained, and the inference for policy derived, are affected by the choice made in setting poverty lines. In critically reviewing the methods found in practice, the paper aims to analyze, and attempts to resolve, ongoing debates about poverty measurements, highlighting the issues bearing the most on policy discussions. The paper discusses two methods within objective poverty lines: food-energy intake, and the cost of basic needs. Subjective poverty lines are discussed in the context of minimum income question, used in many developed countries, while pointing out its pitfalls in the context of developing countries. The paper concludes with a discussion of poverty lines found in practice, as opposed to the theoretical ones mentioned above.


Official Documents Official, scanned versions of documents (may include signatures, etc.)
File Type		Description	File Size (mb)

	PDF 53 pages	Official version*	3.71 (approx.)
	Text	Text version**

* The official version is derived from scanning the final, paper copy of the document and is the official,
archived version including all signatures, charts, etc.

** The text version is the OCR text of the final scanned version and is not an accurate representation of the final text.
It is provided solely to benefit users with slow connectivity.

Permanent URL for this page: http://go.worldbank.org/OJITD58WB0