When method matters: Monitoring poverty in Bangladesh

Economic Development and Cultural Change

Volumn 44, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 761-792

  Ravallion, Martin ^a   Sen, Binayak ^b  

^a WORLD BANK GROUP   (United States)

^b Bangladesh Inst of Devmt Studies

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

METHODOLOGY; POVERTY MEASUREMENT; POVERTY REDUCTION;

BANGLADESH;

EID: 0029989929     PISSN: 00130079     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/452244     Document Type: Article

References (79)

1. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Report on the Household Expenditure Survey, 1988-89 (Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1991). Also see Taher Uddin Ahmed, "Poverty in Bangladesh," in Proceedings of the Workshop of Dissemination of Current Statistics (Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1991).
2. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Report on the Household Expenditure Survey, 1988-89 (Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1991). Also see Taher Uddin Ahmed, "Poverty in Bangladesh," in Proceedings of the Workshop of Dissemination of Current Statistics (Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1991).
3. For a survey of the evidence see Michael Lipton and Martin Ravallion, "Poverty and Policy," in Handbook of Development Economics, vol. 3, ed. Jere Behrman and T. N. Srinivasan (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1995).
4. Abu Abdullah, "Introduction," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): iii-vii; Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty in Bangladesh: A Consequence of and a Constraint of Growth," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 19-34; Siddiqur Osmani, "Structural Change and Poverty in Bangladesh: The Case of a False Turning Point," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 55-74, and "Notes on Some Recent Estimates of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 75-87; Martin Ravallion, "The Challenging Arithmetic of Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 35-54.
5. Abu Abdullah, "Introduction," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): iii-vii; Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty in Bangladesh: A Consequence of and a Constraint of Growth," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 19-34; Siddiqur Osmani, "Structural Change and Poverty in Bangladesh: The Case of a False Turning Point," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 55-74, and "Notes on Some Recent Estimates of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 75-87; Martin Ravallion, "The Challenging Arithmetic of Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 35-54.
6. Abu Abdullah, "Introduction," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): iii-vii; Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty in Bangladesh: A Consequence of and a Constraint of Growth," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 19-34; Siddiqur Osmani, "Structural Change and Poverty in Bangladesh: The Case of a False Turning Point," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 55-74, and "Notes on Some Recent Estimates of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 75-87; Martin Ravallion, "The Challenging Arithmetic of Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 35-54.
7. Abu Abdullah, "Introduction," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): iii-vii; Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty in Bangladesh: A Consequence of and a Constraint of Growth," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 19-34; Siddiqur Osmani, "Structural Change and Poverty in Bangladesh: The Case of a False Turning Point," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 55-74, and "Notes on Some Recent Estimates of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 75-87; Martin Ravallion, "The Challenging Arithmetic of Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 35-54.
8. Abu Abdullah, "Introduction," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): iii-vii; Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty in Bangladesh: A Consequence of and a Constraint of Growth," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 19-34; Siddiqur Osmani, "Structural Change and Poverty in Bangladesh: The Case of a False Turning Point," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 55-74, and "Notes on Some Recent Estimates of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 75-87; Martin Ravallion, "The Challenging Arithmetic of Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 18 (1990): 35-54.
9. Martin Ravallion, "Agricultural Wages in Bangladesh: What Do the Figures Really Show?" Journal of Development Studies 31 (December 1994): 334-45.
10. Mustafa K. Mujeri, Quazi Shahabuddin, and Salehuddin Ahmed, "Macroeconomic Performance, Structural Adjustments and Equity: A Framework for Analysis of Macro-Micro Transmission Mechanisms in Bangladesh," in Monitoring Adjustment and Poverty in Bangladesh, Report on the Framework Project, CIRDAP Study Series no. 160 (Dhaka, Bangladesh: Centre for Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific, 1993).
11. Ravallion, "The Challenging Arithmetic of Poverty."
12. Khan, "Poverty in Bangladesh."
13. There are other differences between the 1981/82 survey and the last four, including the change to a smaller sample size, although this is unlikely to matter in the present context.
14. Of the four HES survey years, only 1988/89 was unusual in this respect, because of severe flooding. The agricultural output data referred to are from various issues of the Monthly Statistical Bulletin of Bangladesh.
15. V. M. Dandekar and N. Rath, Poverty in India (Pune: Indian School of Political Economy, 1971); Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty and Inequality in Rural Bangladesh," in Poverty and Landlessness in Rural Asia (Geneva: International Labour Organisation [ILO], 1977); Siddiqur Osmani, Economic Inequality and Group Welfare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982); J. Greer and Erik Thorbecke, "A Methodology for Measuring Food Poverty Applied to Kenya," Journal of Development Economics 24 (1986): 59-74; Satya Paul, "A Model of Constructing the Poverty Line," Journal of Development Economics 30 (1989): 129-44; Aly Ercelawn, "Absolute Poverty as Risk of Hunger: Norms, Incidence, and Intensity for Rural and Urban Pakistan" (Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi, 1991, mimeographed); Sudhir Anand and Christopher Harris, "Issues in the Measurement of Undernutrition," in Nutrition and Poverty, ed. S. R. Osmani (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
16. V. M. Dandekar and N. Rath, Poverty in India (Pune: Indian School of Political Economy, 1971); Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty and Inequality in Rural Bangladesh," in Poverty and Landlessness in Rural Asia (Geneva: International Labour Organisation [ILO], 1977); Siddiqur Osmani, Economic Inequality and Group Welfare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982); J. Greer and Erik Thorbecke, "A Methodology for Measuring Food Poverty Applied to Kenya," Journal of Development Economics 24 (1986): 59-74; Satya Paul, "A Model of Constructing the Poverty Line," Journal of Development Economics 30 (1989): 129-44; Aly Ercelawn, "Absolute Poverty as Risk of Hunger: Norms, Incidence, and Intensity for Rural and Urban Pakistan" (Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi, 1991, mimeographed); Sudhir Anand and Christopher Harris, "Issues in the Measurement of Undernutrition," in Nutrition and Poverty, ed. S. R. Osmani (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
17. V. M. Dandekar and N. Rath, Poverty in India (Pune: Indian School of Political Economy, 1971); Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty and Inequality in Rural Bangladesh," in Poverty and Landlessness in Rural Asia (Geneva: International Labour Organisation [ILO], 1977); Siddiqur Osmani, Economic Inequality and Group Welfare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982); J. Greer and Erik Thorbecke, "A Methodology for Measuring Food Poverty Applied to Kenya," Journal of Development Economics 24 (1986): 59-74; Satya Paul, "A Model of Constructing the Poverty Line," Journal of Development Economics 30 (1989): 129-44; Aly Ercelawn, "Absolute Poverty as Risk of Hunger: Norms, Incidence, and Intensity for Rural and Urban Pakistan" (Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi, 1991, mimeographed); Sudhir Anand and Christopher Harris, "Issues in the Measurement of Undernutrition," in Nutrition and Poverty, ed. S. R. Osmani (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
18. V. M. Dandekar and N. Rath, Poverty in India (Pune: Indian School of Political Economy, 1971); Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty and Inequality in Rural Bangladesh," in Poverty and Landlessness in Rural Asia (Geneva: International Labour Organisation [ILO], 1977); Siddiqur Osmani, Economic Inequality and Group Welfare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982); J. Greer and Erik Thorbecke, "A Methodology for Measuring Food Poverty Applied to Kenya," Journal of Development Economics 24 (1986): 59-74; Satya Paul, "A Model of Constructing the Poverty Line," Journal of Development Economics 30 (1989): 129-44; Aly Ercelawn, "Absolute Poverty as Risk of Hunger: Norms, Incidence, and Intensity for Rural and Urban Pakistan" (Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi, 1991, mimeographed); Sudhir Anand and Christopher Harris, "Issues in the Measurement of Undernutrition," in Nutrition and Poverty, ed. S. R. Osmani (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
19. V. M. Dandekar and N. Rath, Poverty in India (Pune: Indian School of Political Economy, 1971); Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty and Inequality in Rural Bangladesh," in Poverty and Landlessness in Rural Asia (Geneva: International Labour Organisation [ILO], 1977); Siddiqur Osmani, Economic Inequality and Group Welfare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982); J. Greer and Erik Thorbecke, "A Methodology for Measuring Food Poverty Applied to Kenya," Journal of Development Economics 24 (1986): 59-74; Satya Paul, "A Model of Constructing the Poverty Line," Journal of Development Economics 30 (1989): 129-44; Aly Ercelawn, "Absolute Poverty as Risk of Hunger: Norms, Incidence, and Intensity for Rural and Urban Pakistan" (Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi, 1991, mimeographed); Sudhir Anand and Christopher Harris, "Issues in the Measurement of Undernutrition," in Nutrition and Poverty, ed. S. R. Osmani (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
20. V. M. Dandekar and N. Rath, Poverty in India (Pune: Indian School of Political Economy, 1971); Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty and Inequality in Rural Bangladesh," in Poverty and Landlessness in Rural Asia (Geneva: International Labour Organisation [ILO], 1977); Siddiqur Osmani, Economic Inequality and Group Welfare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982); J. Greer and Erik Thorbecke, "A Methodology for Measuring Food Poverty Applied to Kenya," Journal of Development Economics 24 (1986): 59-74; Satya Paul, "A Model of Constructing the Poverty Line," Journal of Development Economics 30 (1989): 129-44; Aly Ercelawn, "Absolute Poverty as Risk of Hunger: Norms, Incidence, and Intensity for Rural and Urban Pakistan" (Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi, 1991, mimeographed); Sudhir Anand and Christopher Harris, "Issues in the Measurement of Undernutrition," in Nutrition and Poverty, ed. S. R. Osmani (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
21. V. M. Dandekar and N. Rath, Poverty in India (Pune: Indian School of Political Economy, 1971); Azizur Rahman Khan, "Poverty and Inequality in Rural Bangladesh," in Poverty and Landlessness in Rural Asia (Geneva: International Labour Organisation [ILO], 1977); Siddiqur Osmani, Economic Inequality and Group Welfare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982); J. Greer and Erik Thorbecke, "A Methodology for Measuring Food Poverty Applied to Kenya," Journal of Development Economics 24 (1986): 59-74; Satya Paul, "A Model of Constructing the Poverty Line," Journal of Development Economics 30 (1989): 129-44; Aly Ercelawn, "Absolute Poverty as Risk of Hunger: Norms, Incidence, and Intensity for Rural and Urban Pakistan" (Applied Economics Research Centre, University of Karachi, 1991, mimeographed); Sudhir Anand and Christopher Harris, "Issues in the Measurement of Undernutrition," in Nutrition and Poverty, ed. S. R. Osmani (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).
22. Akhter U. Ahmed, Haider A. Khan, and Rajan K. Sampath, "Poverty in Bangladesh: Measurement, Decomposition and Intertemporal Comparison," Journal of Development Studies 21 (1991): 48-63. Later we discuss the food bundle we have used and how it is valued. Note that Ahmed, Khan, and Sampath give regressions of food energy intake against (log) nominal food expenditures. Using our estimates of the food poverty line (the local cost of an appropriate food bundle), one can use their regressions to derive the relationship between food energy intake and real food expenditures (this simply requires an adjustment to their intercept).
23. This is not peculiar to Bangladesh, and we suspect it is quite common. See, e.g., Martin Ravallion and Benu Bidani, "How Robust Is a Poverty Profile?" World Bank Economic Review 8 (1994): 75-102, on Indonesia.
24. To some extent this reflects differences in housing quality, but that is not the only factor; ground rents are clearly higher in urban areas. We do not know of evidence for Bangladesh, but on hedonic-price differentials for housing in Java see Martin Ravallion and Dominique van de Walle, "Urban-Rural Cost-of-Living Differentials in a Developing Economy," Journal of Urban Economics 29(1991): 113-27.
25. This is not a theoretical property of the method, and empirical exceptions exist. For example, Gaurav Datt, "Poverty in India, 1950-1991" (Policy Research Department, World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1995, mimeographed), finds that the poverty lines for urban and rural India generated by the food-energy method appear to have constant real value in terms of commodities consumed by the poor.
26. Ravallion and Bidani.
27. Greer and Thorbecke.
28. Some of the activities in the urban informal sector may actually entail higher energy requirements compared with activities in rural areas. Casual observation suggests that activities such as rickshaw pulling and brick breaking, which represent a major source of the urban poor's employment, would entail similarly high energy expenditures compared with agricultural labor.
29. Anthony B. Atkinson, The Economics of Inequality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975).
30. Some applications of this method have set the composition of that bundle to achieve nutritional requirements at minimum cost given prevailing prices. This could easily entail a diet that is alien to the tastes of poor people. We do not follow or recommend that approach. Rather, we recognize explicitly that the reference bundle of goods is a normative standard, which can be chosen to be consistent with the actual consumption choices of any reference group of households.
31. Dividing throughout by some reference poverty line one obtains a Laspeyres price index.
32. Though certain non-utility-based concepts of "welfare" would not deem this to be a problem; for further discussion see Ravallion and Bidani.
33. M. Alamgir, "Some Analysis of Distribution of Income, Consumption, Saving and Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 2 (1974): 737-818; Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad and Mahabub Hossain, "An Evaluation of Selected Policies and Programmes for Alleviation of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh" (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1984, mimeographed); M. Muqtada, "Poverty and Inequality: Trends and Causes," in Bangladesh - Selected Issues in Employment and Development, ed. Rizwanul Islam and M. Muqtada (New Delhi: ILO-ARTEP, 1986), pp. 75-92; Atiq Rahman and Trina Haque, "Poverty and Inequality in Bangladesh in the Eighties: An Analysis of Some Recent Evidence," Research Report no. 91 (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1988); Mahabub Hossain and Binayak Sen, "Rural Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and Determinants," Asian Development Review 10 (1992): 1-34; Binayak Sen and Quazi Towfiqul Islam, "Monitoring Adjustment and Urban Poverty in Bangladesh: Issues, Dimensions, Tendencies," in Monitoring Adjustment and Poverty in Bangladesh (n. 5 above). The precise composition of the bundle has differed, sometimes to accommodate differences in price data, though often the choices made were not particularly appropriate for the poor; for examples, see Hossain and Sen. The precise requirement has also varied slightly, within the range of 2,100-2,200 calories.
34. M. Alamgir, "Some Analysis of Distribution of Income, Consumption, Saving and Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 2 (1974): 737-818; Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad and Mahabub Hossain, "An Evaluation of Selected Policies and Programmes for Alleviation of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh" (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1984, mimeographed); M. Muqtada, "Poverty and Inequality: Trends and Causes," in Bangladesh - Selected Issues in Employment and Development, ed. Rizwanul Islam and M. Muqtada (New Delhi: ILO-ARTEP, 1986), pp. 75-92; Atiq Rahman and Trina Haque, "Poverty and Inequality in Bangladesh in the Eighties: An Analysis of Some Recent Evidence," Research Report no. 91 (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1988); Mahabub Hossain and Binayak Sen, "Rural Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and Determinants," Asian Development Review 10 (1992): 1-34; Binayak Sen and Quazi Towfiqul Islam, "Monitoring Adjustment and Urban Poverty in Bangladesh: Issues, Dimensions, Tendencies," in Monitoring Adjustment and Poverty in Bangladesh (n. 5 above). The precise composition of the bundle has differed, sometimes to accommodate differences in price data, though often the choices made were not particularly appropriate for the poor; for examples, see Hossain and Sen. The precise requirement has also varied slightly, within the range of 2,100-2,200 calories.
35. M. Alamgir, "Some Analysis of Distribution of Income, Consumption, Saving and Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 2 (1974): 737-818; Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad and Mahabub Hossain, "An Evaluation of Selected Policies and Programmes for Alleviation of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh" (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1984, mimeographed); M. Muqtada, "Poverty and Inequality: Trends and Causes," in Bangladesh - Selected Issues in Employment and Development, ed. Rizwanul Islam and M. Muqtada (New Delhi: ILO-ARTEP, 1986), pp. 75-92; Atiq Rahman and Trina Haque, "Poverty and Inequality in Bangladesh in the Eighties: An Analysis of Some Recent Evidence," Research Report no. 91 (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1988); Mahabub Hossain and Binayak Sen, "Rural Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and Determinants," Asian Development Review 10 (1992): 1-34; Binayak Sen and Quazi Towfiqul Islam, "Monitoring Adjustment and Urban Poverty in Bangladesh: Issues, Dimensions, Tendencies," in Monitoring Adjustment and Poverty in Bangladesh (n. 5 above). The precise composition of the bundle has differed, sometimes to accommodate differences in price data, though often the choices made were not particularly appropriate for the poor; for examples, see Hossain and Sen. The precise requirement has also varied slightly, within the range of 2,100-2,200 calories.
36. M. Alamgir, "Some Analysis of Distribution of Income, Consumption, Saving and Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 2 (1974): 737-818; Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad and Mahabub Hossain, "An Evaluation of Selected Policies and Programmes for Alleviation of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh" (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1984, mimeographed); M. Muqtada, "Poverty and Inequality: Trends and Causes," in Bangladesh - Selected Issues in Employment and Development, ed. Rizwanul Islam and M. Muqtada (New Delhi: ILO-ARTEP, 1986), pp. 75-92; Atiq Rahman and Trina Haque, "Poverty and Inequality in Bangladesh in the Eighties: An Analysis of Some Recent Evidence," Research Report no. 91 (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1988); Mahabub Hossain and Binayak Sen, "Rural Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and Determinants," Asian Development Review 10 (1992): 1-34; Binayak Sen and Quazi Towfiqul Islam, "Monitoring Adjustment and Urban Poverty in Bangladesh: Issues, Dimensions, Tendencies," in Monitoring Adjustment and Poverty in Bangladesh (n. 5 above). The precise composition of the bundle has differed, sometimes to accommodate differences in price data, though often the choices made were not particularly appropriate for the poor; for examples, see Hossain and Sen. The precise requirement has also varied slightly, within the range of 2,100-2,200 calories.
37. M. Alamgir, "Some Analysis of Distribution of Income, Consumption, Saving and Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 2 (1974): 737-818; Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad and Mahabub Hossain, "An Evaluation of Selected Policies and Programmes for Alleviation of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh" (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1984, mimeographed); M. Muqtada, "Poverty and Inequality: Trends and Causes," in Bangladesh - Selected Issues in Employment and Development, ed. Rizwanul Islam and M. Muqtada (New Delhi: ILO-ARTEP, 1986), pp. 75-92; Atiq Rahman and Trina Haque, "Poverty and Inequality in Bangladesh in the Eighties: An Analysis of Some Recent Evidence," Research Report no. 91 (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1988); Mahabub Hossain and Binayak Sen, "Rural Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and Determinants," Asian Development Review 10 (1992): 1-34; Binayak Sen and Quazi Towfiqul Islam, "Monitoring Adjustment and Urban Poverty in Bangladesh: Issues, Dimensions, Tendencies," in Monitoring Adjustment and Poverty in Bangladesh (n. 5 above). The precise composition of the bundle has differed, sometimes to accommodate differences in price data, though often the choices made were not particularly appropriate for the poor; for examples, see Hossain and Sen. The precise requirement has also varied slightly, within the range of 2,100-2,200 calories.
38. M. Alamgir, "Some Analysis of Distribution of Income, Consumption, Saving and Poverty in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies 2 (1974): 737-818; Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad and Mahabub Hossain, "An Evaluation of Selected Policies and Programmes for Alleviation of Rural Poverty in Bangladesh" (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1984, mimeographed); M. Muqtada, "Poverty and Inequality: Trends and Causes," in Bangladesh - Selected Issues in Employment and Development, ed. Rizwanul Islam and M. Muqtada (New Delhi: ILO-ARTEP, 1986), pp. 75-92; Atiq Rahman and Trina Haque, "Poverty and Inequality in Bangladesh in the Eighties: An Analysis of Some Recent Evidence," Research Report no. 91 (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka, 1988); Mahabub Hossain and Binayak Sen, "Rural Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and Determinants," Asian Development Review 10 (1992): 1-34; Binayak Sen and Quazi Towfiqul Islam, "Monitoring Adjustment and Urban Poverty in Bangladesh: Issues, Dimensions, Tendencies," in Monitoring Adjustment and Poverty in Bangladesh (n. 5 above). The precise composition of the bundle has differed, sometimes to accommodate differences in price data, though often the choices made were not particularly appropriate for the poor; for examples, see Hossain and Sen. The precise requirement has also varied slightly, within the range of 2,100-2,200 calories.
39. Some observers consider this standard to be on the high side for Bangladesh. See Khan, "Poverty and Inequality" (n. 10 above).
40. Anand and Harris (n. 10 above); Lipton and Ravallion (n. 2 above).
41. Hossain and Sen; Rahman and Haque.
42. Alternatively one can fix the food share over time (such as in the Orshansky method, used for updating the official poverty lines for the United States; see Isabel Sawhill, "Poverty in the U.S.: Why Is It So Persistent?" Journal of Economic Literature 26 [1988]: 1073-1119). This does not require data on nonfood prices. The problem, however, is that the price of food relative to nonfood goods may change over time, creating drift in the real value of the poverty line, and hence inconsistencies in the poverty comparisons drawn. This may be important in Bangladesh over this period, since the relative price of food staples was generally falling.
43. Martin Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons, Fundamentals of Pure and Applied Economics, vol. 56 (Chur, Switzerland: Harwood Academic, 1994).
44. The only attempt we know of is the article by Ravallion and van de Walle (n. 13 above), which used hedonic regressions to estimate a spatial price index for housing appropriate to the poor in Java. This requires good data on dwelling characteristics.
45. Of course food prices are typically higher in urban areas than in rural areas (shown in table 2), but many nonfood prices (such as housing, although this accounts for only a small share of expenditure by the poor) are higher in urban areas. And it is the difference in relative prices that matters here.
46. Hossain and Sen.
47. Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
48. With the falling relative price of food, the allowance for nonfood needs increases over the period, rising to 42% in 1991/92.
49. Anthony B. Atkinson, 'On the Measurement of Poverty," Econometrica 55 (1987): 749-64; James Foster and A. F. Shorrocks, "Poverty Orderings," Econometrica 56 (1988): 173-77; Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
50. Anthony B. Atkinson, 'On the Measurement of Poverty," Econometrica 55 (1987): 749-64; James Foster and A. F. Shorrocks, "Poverty Orderings," Econometrica 56 (1988): 173-77; Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
51. Anthony B. Atkinson, 'On the Measurement of Poverty," Econometrica 55 (1987): 749-64; James Foster and A. F. Shorrocks, "Poverty Orderings," Econometrica 56 (1988): 173-77; Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
52. For a survey of this literature, see James Foster, "On Economic Poverty: A Survey of Aggregate Measures," Advances in Econometrics 3 (1984): 215-51.
53. The limitations of the head-count index as a measure of poverty are now widely appreciated, particularly following Amartya Sen, "Poverty: An Ordinal Approach to Measurement," Econometrica 46 (1976): 437-46, and Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981), and an extensive elaboration is not called for here. For a recent survey of the issues and references see Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
54. The limitations of the head-count index as a measure of poverty are now widely appreciated, particularly following Amartya Sen, "Poverty: An Ordinal Approach to Measurement," Econometrica 46 (1976): 437-46, and Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981), and an extensive elaboration is not called for here. For a recent survey of the issues and references see Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
55. The limitations of the head-count index as a measure of poverty are now widely appreciated, particularly following Amartya Sen, "Poverty: An Ordinal Approach to Measurement," Econometrica 46 (1976): 437-46, and Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981), and an extensive elaboration is not called for here. For a recent survey of the issues and references see Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
56. See James Foster, J. Greer, and Erik Thorbecke, "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica 52 (1984): 761-66, for a definition of the poverty-gap index, which has advantages over the income-gap ratio, obtained when the mean is only formed over those who are poor; for further discussion see Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
57. See James Foster, J. Greer, and Erik Thorbecke, "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica 52 (1984): 761-66, for a definition of the poverty-gap index, which has advantages over the income-gap ratio, obtained when the mean is only formed over those who are poor; for further discussion see Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons.
58. Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke.
59. Nanak Kakwani, "Poverty and Economic Growth with Applications to Côte D'Ivoire," Review of Income and Wealth 39 (1993): 121-39. Also see S. M. Ravi Kanbur, "Measurement and Alleviation of Poverty," IMF Staff Papers 34 (1987): 60-85.
60. Nanak Kakwani, "Poverty and Economic Growth with Applications to Côte D'Ivoire," Review of Income and Wealth 39 (1993): 121-39. Also see S. M. Ravi Kanbur, "Measurement and Alleviation of Poverty," IMF Staff Papers 34 (1987): 60-85.
61. Ahmed, Khan, and Sampath (n. 11 above).
62. Atkinson, "On the Measurement of Poverty."
63. For further discussion see Ravallion, Poverty Comparisons (n. 27 above).
64. On the poverty profile by landholding class in Bangladesh see Martin Ravallion and Binayak Sen, "Impacts on Rural Poverty of Land-Contingent Targeting: Some Further Results for Bangladesh," World Development 22 (1994): 823-38. The importance of the real wage rate to the rural poor in Bangladesh has been a prominent link in analyses of the causes of the 1974 famine. See Sen, Poverty and Famines; Martin Ravallion, Markets and Famines (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987). Although there is no comparable time-series evidence for Bangladesh, the strong link between rural poverty measures and the real agricultural wage rate in India is borne out by the results of Martin Ravallion and Gaurav Datt, "Growth, Wages and Poverty: Time Series Evidence for India," Policy Research Working Paper (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1994).
65. On the poverty profile by landholding class in Bangladesh see Martin Ravallion and Binayak Sen, "Impacts on Rural Poverty of Land-Contingent Targeting: Some Further Results for Bangladesh," World Development 22 (1994): 823-38. The importance of the real wage rate to the rural poor in Bangladesh has been a prominent link in analyses of the causes of the 1974 famine. See Sen, Poverty and Famines; Martin Ravallion, Markets and Famines (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987). Although there is no comparable time-series evidence for Bangladesh, the strong link between rural poverty measures and the real agricultural wage rate in India is borne out by the results of Martin Ravallion and Gaurav Datt, "Growth, Wages and Poverty: Time Series Evidence for India," Policy Research Working Paper (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1994).
66. On the poverty profile by landholding class in Bangladesh see Martin Ravallion and Binayak Sen, "Impacts on Rural Poverty of Land-Contingent Targeting: Some Further Results for Bangladesh," World Development 22 (1994): 823-38. The importance of the real wage rate to the rural poor in Bangladesh has been a prominent link in analyses of the causes of the 1974 famine. See Sen, Poverty and Famines; Martin Ravallion, Markets and Famines (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987). Although there is no comparable time-series evidence for Bangladesh, the strong link between rural poverty measures and the real agricultural wage rate in India is borne out by the results of Martin Ravallion and Gaurav Datt, "Growth, Wages and Poverty: Time Series Evidence for India," Policy Research Working Paper (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1994).
67. On the poverty profile by landholding class in Bangladesh see Martin Ravallion and Binayak Sen, "Impacts on Rural Poverty of Land-Contingent Targeting: Some Further Results for Bangladesh," World Development 22 (1994): 823-38. The importance of the real wage rate to the rural poor in Bangladesh has been a prominent link in analyses of the causes of the 1974 famine. See Sen, Poverty and Famines; Martin Ravallion, Markets and Famines (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987). Although there is no comparable time-series evidence for Bangladesh, the strong link between rural poverty measures and the real agricultural wage rate in India is borne out by the results of Martin Ravallion and Gaurav Datt, "Growth, Wages and Poverty: Time Series Evidence for India," Policy Research Working Paper (World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1994).
68. See Richard Palmer-Jones, "An Error Corrected? And What the Figures Really Show," Journal of Development Studies 31 (1994): 346-51.
69. It is not always obvious which source is being used in applied work; Palmer-Jones, e.g., simply splices the two without distinction. Publications of the BBS have not been particularly transparent either. In the successive statistical yearbooks (1980, 1986), usually only "BBS" is mentioned as the source of the ASW data, which appears under the heading "region-wise wage of agricultural labor." Data from the NIW, which are also published in the year-book under the title "daily wage rates of selected groups of workers," also give only "BBS" as the source. So it is difficult, at least at first glance, to tell which source is used. The 1992 yearbook has added to the confusion by attributing both to "price section, BBS," a section within NIW.
70. Note that the ASW series is not available for several time points: January-November 1990; January-December 1992; January-June 1993. Data were not collected for these periods. Availability of ASW data in the published form is even less: the 1993 statistical yearbook provides district-wise data up to 1987/88; the recently published 1992 yearbook of agricultural statistics presents data for 1986-89, 1990 (December), and 1991.
71. For details on the sources and deflators used in constructing fig. 5, see Martin Ravallion and Binayak Sen, "New Evidence on Agricultural Wages in Bangladesh" (Policy Research Department, World Bank, Washington D.C., 1994, mimeographed).
72. A composite series was constructed by Palmer-Jones. The composite series splices the NIW series onto the ASW numbers at 1985; doing so gives the impression of a substantial gain in real wages, as shown in fig. 5 if one tracks the ASW series up to 1985 and then switches to the NIW numbers after that.
73. The survey was at thana level before July 1993, but at the finer union level from then on.
74. Before July 1993, ASW covered all 23 greater (old) districts and all 464 thanas, using weekly surveys of four or five preselected employers at thana-level rural centers.
75. This was estimated using parameterized Lorenz curves. We tested both the beta and generalized quadratic specifications; both gave valid Lorenz curves on these data, though the beta specification gave a better fit. The explicit formulas for all three poverty measures as functions of the parameters of both Lorenz curves can be found in Gaurav Datt and Martin Ravallion, "Growth and Redistribution Components of Changes in Poverty Measures: A Decomposition with Applications to Brazil and India in the 1980s," Journal of Development Economics 38 (1992): 275-95. A user-friendly program for PCs, POVCAL, that implements these simulations is available from Martin Ravallion. See Shaohua Chen, Gaurav Datt, and Martin Ravallion, "POVCAL: A User-Friendly Computer Program for Poverty Analysis Using Grouped Data" (Policy Research Department, World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1992).
76. So, e.g., the elasticity of the urban head-count index of -1.1 is the ratio of the percentage decrease in that index over the period (-17.85, from table 2) to the percentage increase in the mean, normalized by the poverty line (16.79, from table 3).
77. The formulas for these elasticities can be found in Kakwani (n. 38 above). While we focus solely on the 1991/92 distribution, the results in table 7 indicate that these elasticities are quite stable over time.
78. Martin Ravallion and Monika Huppi, "Measuring Changes in Poverty: A Methodological Case Study of Indonesia during an Adjustment Period," World Bank Economic Review 5 (1991): 57-84. Over this period in Indonesia, the national Gini index fell by 3.0% (from 33.1% to 32.1%) while mean real consumption per person rose by 15.7%. In urban areas the Gini fell by 1.2%, while the mean rose by 12.1%, while in rural areas the corresponding percentages were 5.5 and 14.6.
79. The number of poor will then remain constant if the rate of growth in national income equals the rate of population growth times 1 -1/(growth elasticity).