Philippine Poverty as Moving Fractals

Abstract

A recent innovation in the field of statistics is using fractal analysis where data sets are analyzed for anomaly detection, pattern analysis, and root cause analysis. In application of the fractal statistics, this paper examines the incidence of Philippine poverty from 2003 to 2012 based on its fractal dimension in the hope of providing policy makers a different approach in addressing sustained growth among the poor. Poverty is like a moving fractal where patterns simply repeat in various scales and variations. What are the key implications of fractal poverty for policy and research? How can the fractal poverty provide an analytical foundation to make a pathway out of poverty accessible to Filipinos presently suffering in extreme poverty? The fractal model shows that poverty incidence is dictated by provinces whose poverty incidence are high. This means that if the poverty incidence of the province will be primarily addressed, it will affect the poverty scenario of the Philippines. Policy makers if looking for key indicators why Filipinos have some difficulty escaping poverty may focus on the province with the highest incidence.