Assessing Asset Indices

This paper compares how results using various methods to construct asset indices match results using per capita expenditures. The analysis shows that inferences about inequalities in education, health care use, fertility, child mortality, as well as labor market outcomes are quite robust to the specific economic status measure used. The measures-most significantly per capita expenditures versus the class of asset indices-do not, however, yield identical household rankings. Two factors stand out in predicting the degree of congruence in rankings between per capita expenditures and an asset index. First is the extent to which per capita expenditures can be explained by observed household and community characteristics. In settings with small transitory shocks to expenditure, or with little measurement error in expenditure, the rankings yielded by the alternative approaches are most similar. Second is the extent to which expenditures are dominated by individually consumed goods such as food. Asset indices are typically derived from indicators of goods which are effectively public at the household level, while expenditures are often dominated by food, an almost exclusively private good. In settings where private goods such as food are the main component of expenditures, asset indices and per capita consumption yield the least similar results, although adjusting for economies of scale in household expenditures reconciles the results somewhat.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Scott, Kinnon, Filmer, Deon
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2008-04
Subjects:	ACCOUNTING, ADULT LITERACY, ADULT POPULATION, AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS, ALTERNATIVE ASSET, ANTENATAL CARE, ASSET OWNERSHIP, ASSETS, BANK POLICY, BASIC EDUCATION, BUDGETARY ALLOCATIONS, CARE FOR CHILDREN, CASH TRANSFERS, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, CHILD HEALTH, CHILD MORTALITY, CHILD SURVIVAL, COLLECTIVE ACTION, COMMUNITY HEALTH, CONSUMER DURABLE, CONSUMER DURABLES, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES, CULTURAL CHANGE, DEMAND FOR FOOD, DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION, DEPENDENCY RATIO, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRY, DISABILITY, DISCRIMINATION, DRINKING WATER, DUMMY VARIABLES, DURABLE ASSETS, DURABLE GOODS, DURABLES, EARLY CHILDHOOD, ECONOMIC COOPERATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC STATUS, ECONOMIC TRANSITION, ECONOMIES OF SCALE, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, ELDERLY, ENROLLMENT, ENROLLMENTS, EXPENDITURE, EXPENDITURES, EXTREME POVERTY, FERTILITY, GENDER, GENDER INEQUALITY, HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH CARE USE, HEALTH ECONOMICS, HEALTH EXPENDITURES, HEALTH FACILITIES, HEALTH OUTCOMES, HEALTH POLICY, HEALTH SERVICE, HEALTH SERVICE UTILIZATION, HEALTH SERVICES, HEALTH STATUS, HEALTH SYSTEM, HEALTH SYSTEM PERFORMANCE, HOLDING, HOSPITAL, HOUSEHOLD ASSETS, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD INVESTMENTS, HOUSEHOLD LEVEL, HOUSEHOLD POVERTY, HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HOUSEHOLD WEALTH, HOUSEHOLDS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, ILLITERATE ADULTS, ILLNESS, IMMUNIZATIONS, INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, INEQUALITIES, INEQUALITY, INEQUITIES, JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, LABOR FORCE, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKETS, LAND OWNERSHIP, LEVEL OF MORTALITY, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIVING CONDITIONS, LIVING STANDARD, LIVING STANDARDS, MALARIA, MEASLES, MEASLES IMMUNIZATION, MEDICAL CARE, MEDICAL FACILITY, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, NUMBER OF BIRTHS, NUMBER OF CHILDREN, NUTRITION, ORPHANS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POOR PEOPLE, POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT, POPULATION STUDIES, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIVATE FUNDING, PROGRESS, PUBLIC SERVICES, RADIO, RURAL AREAS, RURAL RESIDENCE, SANITATION, SELF EMPLOYMENT, SERVICE DELIVERY, SERVICE PROVIDERS, SERVICE QUALITY, SERVICE UTILIZATION, SEX, SHOCKS TO INCOME, SMALLER HOUSEHOLDS, SOCIAL FUNDS, SOCIAL IMPACT, SOCIAL PROGRAMS, SOCIAL SCIENCE, SOCIAL SECTOR, SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITIES, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, SOURCE OF DRINKING WATER, STATEMENTS, TELEVISION, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, URBAN AREAS, URBAN POVERTY, URBANIZATION, USE OF HEALTH SERVICES, VALUE OF ASSETS, VULNERABILITY, WEALTH EFFECTS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, YIELD, YOUNG CHILDREN,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/04/9373236/assessing-asset-indices https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6764
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