scholarly journals Constructing synthetic panels for the purpose of studying poverty dynamics: A primer

Author(s):  
David Garcés‐Urzainqui ◽  
Peter Lanjouw ◽  
Gerton Rongen
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Salvucci ◽  
Finn Tarp

In this paper we first validate the use of the synthetic panels technique in the context of the 2014/15 intra-year panel survey data for Mozambique, and then apply the same technique to the 1996/97, 2002/03, 2008/09, and 2014/15 cross-sectional household budget surveys for the same country. We find that in most analyses poverty rates and poverty transitions estimated using synthetic panels provide results that are close to the true values obtained using the 2014/15 panel data. With respect to intra-year poverty dynamics, we find that Mozambique has a high intra-year variability in consumption and poverty, and a very high degree of intra-year poverty immobility, with a big portion of the population remaining either in poverty or out of poverty over the whole year, with smaller percentages of individuals moving upward or downward. With respect to the 1996/97, 2002/03, 2008/09, and 2014/15 cross-sectional surveys, our results suggest that in most year-to-year comparisons there is a greater proportion of people getting out of poverty than falling into poverty, consistent with the poverty-reduction process observed, but the percentage of people staying in poverty over time appears to be substantially higher, involving about one-third of the population in most years. Further analyses on the 2008/09 and 2014/15 surveys estimate that for an individual who was in the vulnerable group in 2008/09, there is a 60 per cent probability of remaining in the same group, whereas the probability of becoming non-vulnerable is lower than the probability of entering poverty. This constitutes the first attempt to provide an insight into poverty dynamics in Mozambique using all the available survey data.


2021 ◽  
pp. 115-138
Author(s):  
Himanshu ◽  
Peter Lanjouw

This chapter examines income mobility in developing countries. We start by synthesizing findings from the available evidence on relative mobility and poverty dynamics. We then describe evidence on economic mobility obtained via synthetic panels constructed from cross-section data. We echo earlier literature in pointing to substantial movement across income classes by households over time—poverty is not inevitably a chronic condition. However, less clear are the factors driving the observed ‘churning’. In an attempt to make headway, we consider the story of economic mobility in one village in northern India over seven decades. We describe patterns of poverty dynamics and economic mobility in the village, and we highlight some of the processes that have been important in driving these patterns. While this in-depth study does not permit inferences to broader populations, it may provide a reference point against which findings from studies elsewhere can be compared.


2020 ◽  
pp. 62-79
Author(s):  
P. N. Pavlov

The paper analyzes the impact of the federal regulatory burden on poverty dynamics in Russia. The paper provides regional level indices of the federal regulatory burden on the economy in 2008—2018 which take into account sectoral structure of regions’ output and the level of regulatory rigidity of federal regulations governing certain types of economic activity. Estimates of empirical specifications of poverty theoretical model with the inclusion of macroeconomic and institutional factors shows that limiting the scope of the rulemaking activity of government bodies and weakening of new regulations rigidity contributes to a statistically significant reduction in the level of poverty in Russian regions. Cancellation of 10% of accumulated federal level requirements through the “regulatory guillotine” administrative reform may take out of poverty about 1.1—1.4 million people.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 924-939
Author(s):  
V. A. Tsvetkov ◽  
K. Kh. Zoidov ◽  
K. S. Yankauskas ◽  
Sh. Kobil

The presented study comparatively analyzes indicators of the level of poverty and social inequality in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and the European Union (EU) as a criterion of national economic security.Aim. The study aims to examine existing approaches to determining the level of poverty and its dynamics and to consider suggestions for improving this methodology.Tasks. The authors examine and comparatively analyze approaches and methods for determining the level of poverty and its dynamics in the European Union and the CIS countries that are not members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).Methods. This study uses the methods of systems analysis, evolutionary-institutional theory, and historical approach.Results. Determining the level of poverty based on the number of citizens with incomes below the subsistence level can lead to misrepresentation of the actual state of this phenomenon. Calculation of poverty indicators based on consumer spending provides more accurate data on the level of poverty in a country where a significant share of the population’s income is generated by remittances from individuals living abroad, which are not reflected in official income statistics. A comparative analysis of poverty dynamics shows that in 2013 the level of poverty in all four examined countries decreased compared to 2006. Poverty dynamics in Russia and Belarus is more synchronized than in Ukraine and Moldova. A common methodology for calculating the level of poverty in all EU countries makes it possible to conduct a more thorough comparative analysis of poverty dynamics and to formulate more accurate recommendations in the field of anti-poverty policies. Based on the identified poverty dynamics in the EU and Russia, it is highly possible that strategic objectives on poverty reduction in the European Union and Russia will not be completed.Conclusions. To exclude the possibility of interested authorities influencing the dynamics of the poverty indicator by changing its threshold values depending on the current economic or political situation, it is necessary to switch to comprehensive assessment of this indicator in Russia. For comparative cross-country data analysis, it is advisable to consider the possibility of creating a Eurasian Statistics Service within the EAEU that would collect statistics and standardize statistical methods among the EAEU member states.


Author(s):  
Claire Taylor

Chapter 4 examines poverty dynamics in three distinct ways: (i) through an examination of conjunctural aspects of poverty and the events that are described as precipitating hardship, (ii) through a discussion of chronic poverty as social re-categorization, and (iii) through an exploration of gendered aspects of poverty. Together these case studies demonstrate that the discourses of poverty discussed in Chapter 2 are contested by the penetes themselves, e.g. women were able to use their social networks to resist the discourses that devalued their labour.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097370302110329
Author(s):  
Vusi Gumede

There are many questions related to poverty in South Africa that remain unsatisfactorily answered. Given the poor performance of the South African economy, including declining per capita incomes and increasing unemployment, since 2010 or so, it is important to examine poverty dynamics in the recent years. Many recent studies in this regard have relied on 2015 data, and do not examine all the three interrelated aspects of wellbeing viz. poverty, human development and inequality. In this context, this paper uses all the five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study and employs different poverty and inequality measurement techniques to investigate poverty dynamics, human development and inequality during the post-apartheid period in South Africa. The estimates suggest that although poverty was declining prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the African/Black population group is the most affected by poverty. The phenomenon of feminisation of poverty is also verified based on the evidence of increasingly more women in poverty than men. The proportion of population experiencing multiple deprivations, measured by the Multidimensional Poverty Index, have not changed in the post-apartheid period. Similarly, human development has not improved during this period. South African society continues to be one of the most unequal societies in the world. The paper argues that the inability to sufficiently reduce poverty, unemployment and inequality results from the weak performance of the South African economy. In the same vein, it is the structure of the South African economy that has kept the levels of human development low and income inequality high.


1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Sharon L. Harlan ◽  
Robert Walker ◽  
Karl Ashworth
Keyword(s):  

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