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Counting and Multidimensional Poverty Measurement (Short Version)

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  • Sabina Alkire, James Foster

Abstract

This paper proposes a new methodology for multidimensional poverty measurement consisting of an identification method ρκ ('rho-kapa') that extends traditional approaches, and a class of poverty measures Μα ('mu-alpha') that satisfies several desirable properties including decomposability. Our identification step employs two forms of cutoff: one within each dimension and a second across dimensions that identifies the poor by counting their deprivations. We aggregate using Foster-Greer-Thorbecke measures adjusted for multidimensionality. Our adjusted headcount ratio is well suited for use with ordinal data. Examples from Indonesia and the US illustrate our methodology.

Suggested Citation

  • Sabina Alkire, James Foster, 2009. "Counting and Multidimensional Poverty Measurement (Short Version)," OPHI Working Papers 7_5, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:qeh:ophiwp:ophiwp007_5
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    File URL: https://ophi.org.uk/working-paper-number-7-5/
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