Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-59f8fd8595-gzxxv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2023-03-21T15:35:21.144Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "useRatesEcommerce": false } hasContentIssue true

21 - The Research Agenda on Multidimensional Poverty Measurement

Important and as yet Unanswered Questions

from Part II - Methods, Measurement and Empirical Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2020

By
Sabina Alkire
Edited by
Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti ,
Siddiqur Osmani  and
Mozaffar Qizilbash
Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti
Affiliation:
University of Pavia
Siddiqur Osmani
Affiliation:
Ulster University
Mozaffar Qizilbash
Affiliation:
University of York
Get access

Summary

The application of multidimensional poverty measures is proliferating, in part due to the emphasis in Goal 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on ending poverty in all its forms and dimensions. This chapter first traces the emergence of a priority for non-monetary poverty measures in key texts that considered and then set out the SDGs. It then outlines some vital and feasible research questions on a subset of fascinating empirical topics on counting-based multidimensional measures. The topics covered here relate to the SDGs’ focus on measuring the multidimensional poverty of men, women and children. Building on the existing literature, fascinating questions remain in terms of measurement design (the selection of dimensions, indicators, cut-offs and weights), the analysis of multidimensional poverty measures, their application to child poverty and their implementation using gendered data. In each of these areas, it is expected that significant breakthroughs are possible.

Keywords

multidimensional povertypoverty measurementchild povertygenderrobustness
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach , pp. 417 - 436
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Purchase

Buy Book

Buy print or eBook[Opens in a new window]

References

Alkire, S. 2002. Valuing Freedoms: Sen’s Capability Approach and Poverty Reduction. Oxford University Press.
Alkire, S. and Fang, Y. 2018. ‘Dynamics of Multidimensional Poverty and Uni‐Dimensional Income Poverty: An Evidence of Stability Analysis from China’. Social Indicators Research. Published online 3 April: www.springerprofessional.de/en/dynamics-of-multidimensional-poverty-and-uni-dimensional-income-/15586720 (accessed 24 February 2020).
Alkire, S. and Foster, J. 2011. ‘Counting and Multidimensional Poverty Measurement’. Journal of Public Economics 95/7–8: 476–487.
Alkire, S. and Foster, J. 2016. ‘Dimensional and Distributional Contributions to Multidimensional Poverty’. OPHI Working Paper No. 100. University of Oxford.
Alkire, S. and Roche, J. M. 2012. ‘Beyond Headcount: Measures that Reflect the Breadth and Components of Child Poverty’, in Minujin, A and Nandy, S (eds.). Global Child Poverty and Well-Being: Measurement, Concepts, Policy and Action. Bristol: Policy Press: 103–134.
Alkire, S. and Santos, M. E. 2014. ‘Measuring Acute Poverty in the Developing World: Robustness and Scope of the Multidimensional Poverty Index’. World Development 59: 251–274.
Alkire, S. and Seth, S. 2016. ‘Identifying Destitution through Linked Subsets of Multidimensionally Poor: An Ordinal Approach’. OPHI Working Paper No. 99. University of Oxford.
Alkire, S., Apablaza, M. and Jung, E. 2014. ‘Multidimensional Poverty Measurement for EU-SILC Countries’. OPHI Research in Progress Series 36c. University of Oxford.
Alkire, S., Meinzen-Dick, R., Peterman, A., Quisumbing, A. R., Seymour, G. and Vaz, A. 2013. ‘The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index’. World Development 53: 71–91.
Alkire, S., Foster, J. E., Seth, S., Santos, M. E., Roche, J. M. and Ballon, P. 2015. Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and Analysis. Oxford University Press.
Alkire, S., Dorji, L., Gyeltshen, S. and Minten, T. 2016. Child Poverty in Bhutan: Insights from Multidimensional Child Poverty Index and Qualitative Interviews with Poor Children. Monograph No. 9. Thimphu, Bhutan:National Statistics Bureau.
Anand, S. and Sen, A. 1997. ‘Concepts of Human Development and Poverty: A Multidimensional Perspective’, in Poverty and Human Development: Human Development Papers 1997. New York: United Nations Development Programme: 1–20.
Atkinson, A. B. and Marlier, E. 2010. Analysing and Measuring Social Inclusion in a Global Context. New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations.
Atkinson, A., Cantillon, B., Marlier, E. and Nolan, B. 2002. Social Indicators: The EU and Social Inclusion. Oxford University Press.
Azevedo, V. and Robles, M. 2013. ‘Multidimensional Targeting: Identifying Beneficiaries of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs’. Social Indicators Research 112/2: 447–475.
Batana, Y. 2013. ‘Multidimensional Measurement of Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa’. Social Indicators Research 112/2: 337–362.
Beegle, K., De Weerdt, J., Friedman, J. and Gibson, J. 2012. ‘Methods of Household Consumption Measurement through Surveys: Experimental Results from Tanzania’. Journal of Development Economics 98/1: 19–33.
Biggeri, M. 2007. ‘Children’s Valued Capabilities’, in Walker, M and Unterhalter, E (eds.). Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach and Social Justice in Education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 197–214.
Biggeri, M., Ballet, J. and Comim, F. (eds.). 2011. Children and the Capability Approach. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Biggeri, M., Libanora, R., Mariani, S. and Menchini, L. 2006. ‘Children Conceptualizing their Capabilities: Results of a Survey Conducted during the First Children’s World Congress on Child Labour’. Journal of Human Development 7/1: 59–83.
Callander, E. J., Schofield, D. J. and Shrestha, R. N. 2012. ‘Capacity for Freedom: A New Way of Measuring Poverty Amongst Australian Children’. Child Indicators Research 5/1: 179–198.
Chant, S. 1997. Women-Headed Households: Diversity and Dynamics in the Developing World. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chuta, N. and Morrow, V. 2015. ‘Youth Trajectories through Work and Marriage in Rural Ethiopia’. Working Paper 135. Young Lives, University of Oxford.
Chzhen, Y., de Neubourg, C., Plavgo, I. and de Milliano, M. 2016. ‘Child Poverty in the European Union: The Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis Approach (EU-MODA)’. Child Indicators Research 9/2: 335–356.
CONEVAL. 2010. Methodology for Multidimensional Poverty Measurement in Mexico. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social.
Cooper, K. and Stewart, K. 2013. Does Money Affect Children’s Outcomes? A Systematic Review. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
De Neubourg, C., Chai, J., de Milliano, M., Plavgo, I. and Wei, Z. 2012. ‘Step-By-Step Guidelines to the Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (MODA)’. Working Paper 2012-10. Florence: UNICEF Office of Research.
Deaton, A. and Kozel, V. 2005. ‘Data and Dogma: The Great Indian Poverty Debate’. World Bank Research Observer 20/2: 177–199.
Delamonica, E. E. and Minujin, A. 2007. ‘Incidence, Depth and Severity of Children in Poverty’. Social Indicators Research 82/2: 361–374.
Deneulin, S. and Clausen, J. 2018. ‘Collective Choice and Social Welfare by Amartya Sen: A Review Essay with Reference to Development in Peru’. OPHI Working Paper No. 113. University of Oxford.
Di Tommaso, M. 2007. ‘Children Capabilities: A Structural Equation Model for India’. Journal of Socio-Economics 36/3: 436–450.
Drèze, J. 2017. ‘Economics Among the Road Scholars’, in Sense and Solidarity: Jholawala Economics for Everyone. Ranikhet: Permanent Black: 1–21.
Drèze, J. and Sen, A. 2013. An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions. London: Allen Lane.
ECLAC and UNICEF. 2010. Pobreza infantil en América Latina y el Caribe. Santiago de Chile: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and United Nations Children’s Fund.
Evans, M. C. and Abdurazakov, A. 2018. ‘The Measurement Properties of Multidimensional Poverty Indices for Children: Lessons and Ways Forward’. OPHI Working Paper No. 115. University of Oxford.
Feres, J. C. and Mancero, X. 2001. ‘El método de las necesidades básicas insatisfechas (NBI) y sus aplicaciones a América Latina’. Estudios Estadísticos y Prospectivos 4. Santiago de Chile: ECLAC and UNICEF.
García, S. and Ritterbusch, A. 2015. ‘Child Poverty in Colombia: Construction of a Multidimensional Measure Using a Mixed-Method Approach’. Child Indicators Research 8/4: 801–823.
Gordon, D., Nandy, S., Pantazis, C., Pemberto, S. and Townsend, P. 2003. Child Poverty in the Developing World. Bristol: Policy Press.
Groves, R. M. and Lyberg, L. 2010. ‘Total Survey Error: Past, Present, and Future’. Public Opinion Quarterly 74/5: 849–879.
IADB 2017. ‘Better Jobs Index: An Employment Conditions Index for Latin America’. Technical Note No. IDB-TN-1326. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.
Jindra, C. and Vaz, A. 2019. ‘Good Governance and Multidimensional Poverty: A Comparative Analysis of 71 Countries’. Governance 32: 657–675.
Klasen, S. and Lahoti, R. 2016. ‘How Serious Is the Neglect of Intra-Household Inequality in Multi-Dimensional Poverty Indices?’ Poverty, Equity and Growth. Discussion Papers 200. Courant Research Centre, University of Göttingen.
Metz, T. and Gaie, J. B. R. 2010. ‘The African Ethic of ubuntu/botho: Implications for Research on Morality’. Journal of Moral Education 39/3: 273–290.
Meyer, B. D. and Sullivan, J. X. 2008. ‘Changes in the Consumption, Income, and Well-Being of Single Mother-Headed Families’. American Economic Review 98/5: 2221–2241.
Minujin, A. and Nandy, S. (eds.). 2012. Global Child Poverty and Well-Being: Measurement, Concepts, Policy and Action. Bristol: Policy Press.
Minujin, A., Delamonica, E., Davidziuk, A. and Gonzalez, E. D. 2006. ‘The Definition of Child Poverty: A Discussion of Concepts and Measurements’. Environment and Urbanization 18/2: 481–500.
Narayan, D., Chambers, R., Shah, M. K. and Petesch, P. 2000. Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change. Oxford University Press.
Nolan, B. and Whelan, C. 2011. Poverty and Deprivation in Europe. Oxford University Press.
Notten, G. and Roelen, K. 2012. ‘A New Tool for Monitoring (Child) Poverty: Measures of Cumulative Deprivation’. Child Indicators Research 5/2: 335–355.
Nussbaum, M. C. 2000. Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach. Cambridge University Press.
Pasha, A. 2017. ‘Regional Perspectives on the Multidimensional Poverty Index’. World Development 94/C: 268–285.
Pogge, T. and Wisor, S. 2016. ‘Measuring Poverty: A Proposal’, in Adler, M and Fleurbaey, M (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. Oxford University Press: 645–676.
Ravallion, M. 2011. ‘On Multidimensional Indices of Poverty’. Journal of Economic Inequality 9/2: 235–248.
RGOB-NSB (Royal Government of Bhutan National Statistics Bureau). 2012. Bhutan Multidimensional Poverty Index. Thimphu: NSB.
Robano, V. and Smith, S. C. 2014. ‘Multidimensional Targeting and Evaluation: A General Framework with an Application to a Poverty Program in Bangladesh’. OPHI Working Paper No. 65. University of Oxford.
Robeyns, I. 2005. ‘Selecting Capabilities for Quality of Life Measurement’. Social Indicators Research 74/1: 191–215.
Roelen, K. 2014. ‘Multidimensional Child Poverty in Vietnam from a Longitudinal Perspective: Improved Lives or Impoverished Conditions?’ Child Indicators Research 7: 487–516.
Roelen, K. and Camfield, L. 2013. ‘A Mixed-Method Taxonomy of Child Poverty: The Case of Ethiopia’. Applied Research in Quality of Life 8/3: 319–337.
Roelen, K., Gassmann, F. and de Neubourg, C. 2012. ‘False Positives or Hidden Dimensions: What Can Monetary and Multidimensional Measurement Tell Us About Child Poverty in Vietnam?’ International Journal of Social Welfare 21/4: 393–407.
Ruggeri Laderchi, C. 1997. ‘Poverty and Its Many Dimensions: The Role of Income as an Indicator’. Oxford Development Studies 25/3: 345–360.
Santos, M. E., Dabus, C. and Delbianco, F. 2016. ‘Growth and Poverty Revisited from a Multidimensional Perspective’. OPHI Working Paper No. 105. University of Oxford.
Sen, A.K. 1992. Inequality Re-examined. Oxford University Press.
Sen, A.K. 1993. ‘Capability and Well-Being’, in Nussbaum, M. C. and Sen, A (eds.). The Quality of Life. Oxford University Press: 9–29.
Sen, A.K. 1999. Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press.
Sen, A.K. 2000. ‘A Decade of Human Development’. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 1/1: 17–23.
Sen, A.K. 2009. The Idea of Justice. London: Penguin.
Sen, A.K. 2016. Collective Choice and Social Welfare. London: Penguin.
Statistics South Africa. 2016. Community Survey 2016: Statistical Release P0301. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa.
Tafere, Y. 2014. ‘Children’s Experiences of Household Poverty Dynamics in Ethiopia’. Working Paper 132. Young Lives, University of Oxford.
Thiry, G., Alkire, S. and Schleicher, J. 2018. ‘Incorporating Environmental and Natural Resources within Analyses of Multidimensional Poverty’. OPHI Research in Progress Series 50a. University of Oxford.
Trani, J.-F. and Cannings, T. I. 2013. ‘Child Poverty in an Emergency and Conflict Context: A Multidimensional Profile and an Identification of the Poorest Children in Western Darfur’. World Development 48: 48–70.
Trani, J.-F., Biggeri, M. and Mauro, V. 2013. ‘The Multidimensionality of Child Poverty: Evidence from Afghanistan’. Social Indicators Research 112/2: 391–416.
UN. 2014a. The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet. Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General on the post-2015 Agenda, A/69/700 (4 December).
UN 2014b. Operational Activities for Development of the United Nations System. General Assembly Resolution A/RES/69/238 (19 December).
UN 2015a. Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. New York: United Nations.
UN 2015b. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1.
UNECE. 2017. Guide on Poverty Measurement. ECE/CES/STAT/2017/4. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Ura, K., Alkire, S., Zangmo, T. and Wangdi, K. 2012. An Extensive Analysis of the Gross National Happiness Index. Thimphu: Centre of Bhutan Studies.
Ura, K., Alkire, S., Zangmo, T. and Wangdi, K. 2015. Preliminary Analysis of the Gross National Happiness Index 2015. Thimphu: Centre of Bhutan Studies.
Van der Gaag, N. 2016. Towards a Better Future? Hopes and Fears from Young Lives. Young Lives, University of Oxford.
Van Tran, Q., Alkire, S. and Klasen, S. 2015. ‘Static and Dynamic Disparities between Monetary and Multidimensional Poverty Measurement: Evidence from Vietnam’, in Garner, T. I. and Short, K. S. (eds.). Measurement of Poverty, Deprivation, and Economic Mobility (Research on Economic Inequality 23). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited: 249–281.
Vaz, A., Malaeb, B. and Quinn, N. N. 2019. ‘Evaluation of Programs with Multiple Objectives: Multidimensional Methods and Empirical Application to Progress in Mexico’. OPHI Research in Progress Series 55a. University of Oxford.
Vijaya, R. M., Lahoti, R. and Swaminathan, H. 2014. ‘Moving from the Household to the Individual: Multidimensional Poverty Analysis’. World Development 59: 70–81.
Watson, D., Maître, B. and Russel, H. 2015. ‘The Measurement of Household Joblessness in SILC and QNHS, 2004–2012: An Analysis of the CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) and the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS)’. Social Inclusion Technical Paper No. 6. Economic and Social Research Institute.
Wolff, J. and de-Shalit, A. 2007. Disadvantage. Oxford University Press.
World Bank. 2017. Monitoring Global Poverty: Report of the Commission on Global Poverty. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Zavaleta, D. 2017. ‘What Are the Dimensions and Indicators Most Commonly Used by Countries in their National MPIs?’ Dimensions 2: 13–17.
Zavaleta, D. and Angulo, R. 2017. ‘National Roundtable and Dashboard for Poverty Reduction in Colombia’. OPHI Briefing 45. University of Oxford.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×