Poverty Lines across the World

National poverty lines vary greatly across the world, from under $1 per person per day to over $40 (at 2005 purchasing power parity). What accounts for these huge differences, and can they be understood within a common global definition of poverty? For all except the poorest countries, the absolute, nutrition-based, poverty lines found in practice tend to behave more like relative lines, in that they are higher for richer countries. Prevailing methods of setting absolute lines allow ample scope for such relativity, even when nutritional norms are common across countries. Both macro data on poverty lines across the world and micro data on subjective perceptions of poverty are consistent with a weak form of relativity that combines absolute consumption needs with social-inclusion needs that are positive for the poorest but rise with a country s mean consumption. The strong form of relativism favored by some developed countries -- whereby the line is set at a fixed proportion of the mean -- emerges as the limiting case for very rich countries.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Ravallion, Martin
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	2010-04-01
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE POVERTY, ABSOLUTE POVERTY LINE, ABSOLUTE POVERTY LINES, AGGREGATE INCOME, AGGREGATE POVERTY, AGREED METRIC, ASSESSING WELFARE, BASIC CONSUMPTION, BASIC CONSUMPTION NEEDS, BASIC NEEDS, BASIC NEEDS METHOD, CALORIC REQUIREMENTS, CASE STUDY, COMMODITY BUNDLE, COMMON UTILITY FUNCTION, COMPARABLE UTILITY FUNCTION, COMPARING POVERTY, CONSISTENT POVERTY LINES, CONSUMER DEMAND, CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, CONSUMPTION BUNDLE, CONSUMPTION DATA, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE, CONSUMPTION NEEDS, CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA, DEFINITIONS OF POVERTY, DEMAND BEHAVIOR, DEMAND FUNCTIONS, DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION, DERIVED UTILITY FUNCTION, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRY, DEVELOPING WORLD, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT ISSUES, DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, ECONOMIC CONTRACTION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC LITERATURE, ECONOMIC MODELS, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMIC REVIEW, ECONOMIC SURVEYS, ECONOMIC THEORY, ECONOMICS, EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE, EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIP, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, EMPIRICAL WORK, EQUIVALENCE SCALE, EQUIVALENCE SCALES, ESCAPE POVERTY, EXCHANGE RATES, EXPENDITURE FUNCTION, FOOD BUNDLE, FOOD BUNDLES, FOOD DEMAND FUNCTION, FOOD ENERGY, FOOD ENERGY INTAKE, FOOD GOODS, FOOD ITEMS, FOOD NEEDS, FOOD POVERTY, FOOD POVERTY LINE, FOOD PRICES, FOOD SHARE, FOOD SPENDING, FOOD-ENERGY INTAKE, FOOD-ENERGY REQUIREMENTS, GEOGRAPHIC AREAS, GLOBAL MARKETS, GLOBAL POVERTY, HEADCOUNT INDEX, HIGH ELASTICITY, HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES, HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS, HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HOUSEHOLD WELFARE, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT, INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, INCOME, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME ELASTICITY, INCOME LEVEL, INCOME POVERTY, INCOMES INCREASE, INEQUALITY, INTER-REGIONAL MIGRATION, LIVING INDEX, LIVING STANDARDS, LIVING STANDARDS MEASUREMENT, MEAN CONDITIONAL, MEAN INCOME, MEASURED INCREASE, MEASURED POVERTY, MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY, MEASURING POVERTY, MEAT, MICRO DATA, MILK, MONITORING POVERTY, NATIONAL POVERTY, NATIONAL POVERTY LINE, NATIONAL POVERTY LINES, NON-FOOD COMPONENT, NON-FOOD GOODS, NON-FOOD ITEMS, NON-FOOD NEEDS, NON-FOOD PRICES, NON-NUTRITIONAL FUNCTIONINGS, NONFOOD COMPONENT, NUTRITION, NUTRITIONAL INTAKE, NUTRITIONAL NORMS, NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, OBJECTIVE POVERTY LINES, OFFICIAL POVERTY, OFFICIAL POVERTY LINE, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, POLICY ANALYSIS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POOR, POOR COUNTRIES, POOR PEOPLE, POVERTY ACROSS COUNTRIES, POVERTY ANALYSIS, POVERTY ASSESSMENTS, POVERTY BUNDLE, POVERTY BUNDLES, POVERTY COMPARISONS, POVERTY DYNAMICS, POVERTY INCIDENCE, POVERTY LEVEL, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY LINES, POVERTY MEASURE, POVERTY MEASUREMENT, POVERTY MEASURES, POVERTY PROFILE, POVERTY PROFILES, POVERTY RATE, POVERTY RATES, POVERTY REDUCTION, PRICE CHANGES, PRICE VECTOR, PRICES INCREASE, PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION, PURCHASING POWER, QUALITATIVE DATA, RANDOM VARIABLE, REAL TERMS, REDUCING POVERTY, REGIONAL POVERTY, RELATIVE INCOME, RELATIVE POSITION, RELATIVE PRICES, RESULTING POVERTY LINES, RICH COUNTRIES, RURAL, RURAL AREAS, RURAL LINE, SETTING POVERTY, SETTING POVERTY LINES, SOCIAL SECURITY, SOCIAL WELFARE, SUBJECTIVE POVERTY, SUBJECTIVE POVERTY LINE, TARGETING, TOTAL POVERTY, TOTAL POVERTY LINE, TRUE COST-OF-LIVING INDICES, UNEMPLOYMENT, URBAN AREAS, URBAN HOUSEHOLDS, URBAN POVERTY, URBAN POVERTY LINE, URBAN SECTOR, UTILITY CONSISTENCY, UTILITY FUNCTION, UTILITY INCONSISTENCIES, UTILITY LEVEL, UTILITY-CONSISTENT POVERTY, VEGETABLES, WELFARE COMPARISONS, WELFARE FUNCTION, WELFARE INDICATOR, WELFARE LEVELS, WELFARE METRIC,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100427143536 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3771
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