Poverty and Vulnerability: An Examination of Chronic and Transient Poverty in Cambodia

Abstract

This paper estimates household vulnerability to poverty using the data of households in Cambodia. In particular, we classify the poor into two main groups, the chronic poor and the transient poor, based on two measures, poverty incidence and vulnerability. The results suggest that, at the national level, among currently poor households (which comprise 24.8% of all households), the chronic poor and the transient poor amount to 6.3 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively. Additionally, 3.4 percent of all households appear to be subject to high risk of falling into poverty, although their current rate of consumption is above the poverty line.