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A Bayesian Subjective Poverty Line, One Dollar a Day Revisited

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  • Zhou Xun

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Michel Lubrano

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This paper provides a new estimation of an international poverty line based on a Bayesian approach. We found that the official poverty lines of the poorest countries are related to the countries' mean consumption level. This new philosophy is to be compared to the previous assumptions made by the World Bank in favour of an absolute poverty line. We propose a new international poverty line at $1.48 per day (2005 PPP) based on a reference group consumption level. This figure is much higher than that proposed by the World Bank ($1.25 in 2005 PPP), but still within a reasonable confidence interval. By this standard, there are more than 1.7 billion people living in poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou Xun & Michel Lubrano, 2013. "A Bayesian Subjective Poverty Line, One Dollar a Day Revisited," Working Papers halshs-00793725, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00793725
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00793725
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    1. Van den Bosch, Karel & Callan, Tim & Estivill, Jordi & Hausman, Piette & Jeandidier, Bruno & Muffels, Ruud & Yfantopoulos, John, 1993. "A Comparison of Poverty in Seven European Countries and Regions Using Subjective and Relative Measures," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 6(3), pages 235-259.
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    6. Martin Ravallion & Gaurav Datt & Dominique van de Walle, 1991. "Quantifying Absolute Poverty In The Developing World," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 37(4), pages 345-361, December.
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    Keywords

    Poverty line; Bayesian inference;

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