Misurare la povertà

Abstract

Measuring Poverty - Although we have better data than ever before at our disposal, measuring poverty remains a controversial issue. This paper discusses the ambiguity that arises from using different definitions and data sources in world poverty measurement. First, it critically reviews the different procedures to establish poverty lines and the various measures of poverty level, including the headcount ratio, the poverty gap and the capabilities approach. It then examines the issues involved in measuring world poverty, both with reference to the difficulty of comparing poverty among countries and the use of representative household surveys versus national accounts for poverty measurement. Even if significant differences still exist, the general evidence shows that, apart from India and China, poverty in the world is getting worse; but it is also true that nearly half of the world’s population live in places where poverty levels are falling.