Dollar a Day Revisited

42 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Martin Ravallion

Martin Ravallion

Georgetown University

Shaohua Chen

World Bank; World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Prem Sangraula

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Date Written: May 1, 2008

Abstract

The paper presents the first major update of the international $1 a day poverty line, first proposed in 1990 for measuring absolute poverty by the standards of the world's poorest countries. In a new data set of national poverty lines we find that a marked economic gradient only emerges when consumption per person is above about $2.00 a day at 2005 purchasing power parity. Below this, the average poverty line is $1.25, which we propose as the new international poverty line. Relative poverty appears to matter more to developing countries than has been thought. The authors' proposed schedule of relative poverty lines is bounded below by $1.25, and rises at a gradient of $1 in $3 when mean consumption is above $2.00 a day.

Keywords: Rural Poverty Reduction, Population Policies, Achieving Shared Growth, Urban Partnerships & Poverty

Suggested Citation

Ravallion, Martin and Chen, Shaohua and Sangraula, Prem, Dollar a Day Revisited (May 1, 2008). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4620, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1149123

Martin Ravallion (Contact Author)

Georgetown University ( email )

Washington, DC 20057
United States

Shaohua Chen

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

1818 H. Street, N.W.
MSN3-311
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Prem Sangraula

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

1818 H Street NW
MSN3-311
Washington, DC 20433
United States