Micro-Level Estimation of Welfare

57 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Peter F. Lanjouw

Peter F. Lanjouw

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Jean O. Lanjouw

University of California, Berkeley, College of Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics (Deceased); Yale University, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Department of Economics (Deceased); Brookings Institution (Deceased)

Chris Elbers

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics; Tinbergen Institute

Date Written: October 2002

Abstract

The authors construct and derive the properties of estimators of welfare that take advantage of the detailed information about living standards available in small household surveys and the comprehensive coverage of a census or large sample. By combining the strengths of each, the estimators can be used at a remarkably disaggregated level. They have a clear interpretation, are mutually comparable, and can be assessed for reliability using standard statistical theory.

Using data from Ecuador, the authors obtain estimates of welfare measures, some of which are quite reliable for populations as small as 15,000 households - a "town." They provide simple illustrations of their use. Such estimates open up the possibility of testing, at a more convincing intra-country level, the many recent models relating welfare distributions to growth and a variety of socioeconomic and political outcomes.

This paper - a product of the Poverty Team, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to develop tools for the analysis of poverty and income distribution.

Suggested Citation

Lanjouw, Peter F. and Lanjouw, Jean Olson and Elbers, Chris, Micro-Level Estimation of Welfare (October 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=636274

Peter F. Lanjouw (Contact Author)

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

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Jean Olson Lanjouw

University of California, Berkeley, College of Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics (Deceased)

Yale University, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Department of Economics (Deceased) ( email )

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Brookings Institution (Deceased)

Chris Elbers

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics ( email )

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Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Gustav Mahlerplein 117
Amsterdam, 1082 MS
Netherlands