Multi-dimensional Poverty Indices

Introduction to Development Economics

ECO 2117
Myra Yazbeck
 Health
• It is a complex dimension

• How do we measure health?

• Alkire et Santos (2010) focus on two measures of health:

• Nutrition (adults and children)—H1

• Child mortality—H2
 Health —malnutrition indicator
• Alkire et Santos (2010) propose the following criteria to measure malnutrition:

• A child is considered malnourished if his weight is two kilograms (or more) below the median child in the
population of children of the same age.

• An adult is considered to be malnourished if his Body Mass index is lower than 18.5.

• Satisfaction threshold: No individual in the household is malnourished.

• Deprivation indicator (denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = #, if at least one child or adult in the household is malnourished.

• !"# = %, otherwise

• It is important to note that this indicator does not consider obesity as a sign of malnutrition
 Health—indicator of child mortality

• A vast majority of the infant/child mortalities are in principle avoidable.

• Satisfaction threshold: no child below 18 dies in the household

• Deprivation indicator (denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = %, if the household has experienced at least one child death (less than 18
years)

• !"# = &, otherwise

 Satisfaction threshold: Education
• Alkire et Santos (2010) concentrate on two complementary
indicators of education deprivation. These are

• The level of education of adults in the household—E1

• School attendance for school aged children—E2
Education—school attendance indicator (adults)

• Satisfaction threshold: at least one adult in the household should

have achieved at least five years of education.
• When using this indicator we do not consider children.

• Deprivation indicator (denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = #, if no adult in the household has more than five years of education.

• !"# = %, otherwise
Education—school attendance indicator (children)

• Satisfaction threshold: all the school aged children should attend school as appropriate
for their age.

• It is important to note that households that do not have school age children are not
considered deprived in this dimension

• Deprivation indicator (denoted !"# ):

• !"# = %, if any school aged child does not attend school

• !"# = &, if all school aged children attend school

 Standards of living
• 6 indicators of living standards including 3 indicators of the millennium
development goals (MDG)

• Access to drinking water(L1)

• Sanitation (L2)
• Use of non polluting (clean) cooking fuel(L3)

• To these three MDG we can add two indicators of the housing quality

• Access to Electricity(L4)
• Flooring(L5)

• The 6th as last indicator is assets or access to durable goods (L6)

• Ex., telephone, radio et de television, fridge, AC, bicycle, car, etc.
 Standards of living- indicator of access to cooking
fuel
• Measurement criteria: A household will be considered in a situation of
deprivation if it uses, wood or coal or dung as cooking fuel

• Satisfaction threshold: The household uses adequate source of energy for

cooking.
• Deprivation indicator (denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = #, if the household uses coal or wood or dung as a fuel for cooking

• !"# = %, otherwise
 Standards of living- indicator of sanitation

• Satisfaction threshold: the sanitation equipment in the household

are adequate (improved sanitation).

• Deprivation indicator(denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = %, the sanitation equipment in the household are inadequate

(unimproved sanitation) or shared with other members of the community.

• !"# = &, otherwise

 Standards of living– indicator of access to
drinking water
• A household that does not have at least one of the following types of access to drinking
water is considered as deprived:

• Household connected (piped connection).

• Shared source.
• A protected well accessible less than 30min walking distance from home.

• Satisfaction threshold: Household has access to at least one adequate source of drinking
water.
• Deprivation indicator(denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = %, household has no access to drinking water or it is farther than 30 min

• !"# = &, otherwise
Standards of living- indicator of access to electricity
• Satisfaction threshold: the household has a private connection to
electricity

• Deprivation indicator(denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = %, if the household does not have a connection to electricity

• !"# = &, otherwise

Standards of living- indicator for flooring material

• Satisfaction threshold: the flooring material of the house in which the

household lives is adequate.

• Deprivation indicator(denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = %, if the household flooring is made of dirt, sand, or dung

• !"# = &, otherwise

 Standards of living- indicators for durable
goods
• Satisfaction threshold: the household owns more than one of the
following durable goods: radio, telephone, bicycle, motorcycle, fridge and
does not own a car or truck.
• Deprivation indicator(denoted !"# ) :

• !"# = %, if the household does not have more than one durable good.

• !"# = &, household has more than one durable good.