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Global Absolute Poverty: Behind the Veil of Dollars

Author

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  • Moatsos Michail

    (Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands)

Abstract
The widely applied “dollar-a-day” methodology identifies global absolute poverty as declining precipitously since the early 80’s throughout the developing world. The methodological underpinnings of the “dollar-a-day” approach have been questioned in terms of adequately representing equivalent welfare conditions in different countries and years. These key issues of measuring global poverty are addressed here using the concept of the bare bones consumption basket (BBB). This methodology pinpoints equivalent levels of welfare, both internationally and intertemporally. The results validate the critique against the “dollar-a-day” methodology, showing large variations in costs of BBB between countries and years, even when one explicitly allows for additional expenses such as education and health. This volatility represents the differential among the typically used average CPI and a price index which is more relevant to those living in absolute poverty. On a point estimate level, success in terms of the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) appears marginal. Once uncertainty in the estimates is accounted for, the BBB poverty lines provide the ground to dispute MDG 1 early celebrations. While BBB absolute poverty remains at very low levels during the entire 1983–2014 period, it also demonstrates strong persistence throughout. On the contrary, the higher welfare level BBB derivative shows overall much less flattering poverty levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Moatsos Michail, 2016. "Global Absolute Poverty: Behind the Veil of Dollars," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-28, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:globdv:v:7:y:2016:i:2:p:28:n:4
    DOI: 10.1515/jgd-2016-0033
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Brandolini & John Micklewright, 2023. "Measuring global poverty," Chapters, in: Jacques Silber (ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, chapter 6, pages 60-69, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Bai, Yan & Costlow, Leah & Ebel, Alissa & Laves, Sarah & Ueda, Yurika & Volin, Natalie & Zamek, Maya & Herforth, Anna & Masters, William A., 2021. "Review: Retail consumer price data reveal gaps and opportunities to monitor food systems for nutrition," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    3. Moatsos, Michail, 2020. "Global Absolute Poverty: The Evolution of its Measurement," EconStor Preprints 216642, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    4. Dörffel, Christoph & Freytag, Andreas, 2023. "The poverty effect of democratization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    5. Robert C. Allen, 2017. "Absolute Poverty: When Necessity Displaces Desire," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(12), pages 3690-3721, December.
    6. Moatsos Michail, 2016. "Global Absolute Poverty: Behind the Veil of Dollars," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 1-28, December.
    7. Antonio M. Salcedo & Gregorio Izquierdo Llanes, 2019. "Drawing the optimal monetary poverty lines based on empirical data: an application to Spain," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 513-527, January.
    8. Martin Ravallion, 2016. "Toward better global poverty measures," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 14(2), pages 227-248, June.
    9. Michail Moatsos, 2021. "Long run trails of poverty, 1925–2010," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(5), pages 2797-2825, November.
    10. Moatsos, Michail, 2020. "Why PPP exchange rates should be avoided in global poverty estimates," EconStor Preprints 218972, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    11. Decerf,Benoit Marie A, 2022. "Absolute and Relative Poverty Measurement : A Survey," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10008, The World Bank.
    12. Hickel, Jason & Sullivan, Dylan, 2024. "How much growth is required to achieve good lives for all? Insights from needs-based analysis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124460, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Moatsos Michail, 2018. "The Unbearable Errorlessness of Global Poverty Estimates," The Economists' Voice, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    14. Balint Menyhert, 2024. "Absolute Poverty Measurement with Minimum Food Needs: A New Inverse Method for Advanced Economies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 313-351, August.
    15. Michail Moatsos & Achillefs Lazopoulos, 2024. "Stress-testing the international poverty line and the official global poverty statistics," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    16. Moatsos, Michail, 2018. "Scrapping PovcalNet's Distributions for Poverty Research," MPRA Paper 89872, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Robert C. Allen, 2017. "Absolute Poverty: When Necessity Displaces Desire REVISED," Working Papers 20170005, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Jun 2017.
    18. Moatsos, Michail, 2020. "The devil in the details: The core disadvantage of the International Poverty Line," EconStor Preprints 218971, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    absolute poverty; bare bones basket; global poverty; poverty lines; subsistence basket;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation

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