Measuring Poverty in the Pacific

Development Policy Centre Discussion Paper No. 9

22 Pages Posted: 18 Apr 2012 Last revised: 19 Jul 2012

See all articles by Matthew Morris

Matthew Morris

Australian National University (ANU) - Development Policy Centre

Date Written: November 1, 2011

Abstract

Measuring poverty in the Pacific is important to keep poor people on the policy agenda, to design effective policies and programs and to carry out rigorous evaluation so that we know what works and why. There are various definitions of poverty, ranging from a narrow focus on adequate calorie consumption through to broader concepts of capabilities. This paper takes a practical look at how to measure one conventional indicator of poverty: income (or consumption) poverty. In doing so, the paper highlights both the limitations of household datasets in the Pacific as well as opportunities to make better use of data for poverty analysis. Good progress is being made in improving the quality of household surveys, so the challenge now is to analyze these more fully to inform policies, program design and evaluation.

Keywords: poverty, Pacific

JEL Classification: D63, I32, O1, O15, O56

Suggested Citation

Morris, Matthew, Measuring Poverty in the Pacific (November 1, 2011). Development Policy Centre Discussion Paper No. 9, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2041821 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2041821

Matthew Morris (Contact Author)

Australian National University (ANU) - Development Policy Centre ( email )

7 Liversidge Street (Bld 70)
Lennox Crossing
Canberra, 0200
Australia

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