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Measuring inequality of poverty: theory and an application to India

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  • Singh, Ashish

Abstract

The commonly used poverty indices measure the overall level of poverty in a society but fail to capture the differential intensity across different socioeconomic groups. This paper proposes a new measure, Inequality of Poverty Index (similar to dissimilarity index in the literature on inequality of opportunity) which captures inequality in distribution of poverty across different subgroups. It can be used to determine the major socioeconomic factors/characteristics/circumstances causing between-group disparity in poverty and effect of a specific factor on poverty relative to other factors and time. The paper also provides an application of the index and potential policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Singh, Ashish, 2010. "Measuring inequality of poverty: theory and an application to India," MPRA Paper 26770, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Nov 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:26770
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sonalde Desai & Veena Kulkarni, 2008. "Changing educational inequalities in india in the context of affirmative action," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(2), pages 245-270, May.
    2. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-766, May.
    3. Ashish Singh, 2010. "The Effect of Family Background on Individual Wages and an Examination of Inequality of Opportunity in India," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 230-246, September.
    4. Singh, Ashish, 2010. "Inequality of opportunity in India," MPRA Paper 32971, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Sudhir Anand, 1977. "Aspects Of Poverty In Malaysia," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 23(1), pages 1-16, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty; Inequality; Inequality of Poverty Index;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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