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International Comparisons of Poverty in South Asia

Author

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  • TM Tonmoy Islam

    (Elon University, North Carolina, United States)

  • David Newhouse

    (World Bank, Washington, DC, United States)

  • Monica Yanez-Pagans

    (World Bank, Washington, DC, United States)

Abstract

This paper explores the methodological differences underlying the construction of the national consumption aggregates that are used to estimate international poverty rates for South Asian countries. The analysis draws on a regional dataset of standardized consumption aggregates to assess the sensitivity of international poverty rates to the items included in the national consumption aggregates. A key feature of the standardized aggregate is that it includes the reported value of housing rent for urban Indian homeowners. Using the standardized consumption aggregates reduces the international poverty rate in South Asia by 1.3 percentage points, impacting the status of about 18.5 million people. Comparing standardized and nonstandardized monetary welfare indicators to other nonmonetary indicators suggests that the latter are more consistent with the standardized consumption aggregates. Overall, the results strongly suggest that harmonizing the construction of welfare measures, particularly the treatment of imputed rent, can meaningfully improve the accuracy of international poverty comparisons.

Suggested Citation

  • TM Tonmoy Islam & David Newhouse & Monica Yanez-Pagans, 2021. "International Comparisons of Poverty in South Asia," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 38(1), pages 142-175, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:adbadr:v:38:y:2021:i:1:p:142-175
    DOI: 10.1162/adev_a_00161
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    Cited by:

    1. Nafees Ahmad Nafees & Javed Iqbal & Zahoor Ul Haq, 2022. "Assessing Modified Multidimensional Poverty Index and its Demographic Correlates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(3), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Manzoor Hussain Memon, 2023. "Poverty, Gap and Severity Estimates for Disaster Prone Rural Areas of Pakistan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 645-663, April.
    3. Muhammad Luqman, Sheer Abbas, Mudassar Yasin, Muhammad Yaseen, Muhammad Umer Mehmood, Shahbaz Ahmad, 2022. "Rural Poverty and Its Dimensions: Evidences from North-West Region of Pakistan," Journal of Economic Impact, Science Impact Publishers, vol. 4(2), pages 39-50.
    4. Muhammad Luqman & Saleem Ashraf & Babar Shahbaz & Tahir Munir Butt & Raheel Saqib, 2021. "Rural Development Through Non-State Actors in Highlands of Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    5. Muhammad Daoud Butt & Siew Chin Ong & Muhammad Umar Wahab & Muhammad Fawad Rasool & Fahad Saleem & Adnan Hashmi & Ahsan Sajjad & Furqan Aslam Chaudhry & Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar, 2022. "Cost of Illness Analysis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Findings from a Lower-Middle Income Country," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Martin Rama, 2019. "Challenges in Measuring Poverty and Understanding its Dynamics: A South Asian Perspective," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(S1), pages 2-32, November.

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