Multidimensional Deprivation in China, India and Vietnam: A Comparative Study on Micro Data
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This study evaluates and compares living standards in China, India and Vietnam using the recent multidimensional approach. A distinguishing feature of this study is the use of unit record data sets containing household level information on a wide range of variables including access to several dimensions of living, wealth and child health. The study distinguishes between multidimensional deprivation and multidimensional poverty and examines the robustness of the evidence to the concept used in making the welfare comparisons. The study uses household level information on a wide variety of indicators and the methodology of Principal Component Analysis to measure household wealth. The calculated wealth index is then used to examine the distribution of deprivation and poverty by wealth percentiles. This paper uses the Lorenz curve for wealth and the pseudo Lorenz curves for deprivation and poverty to show that wealth, used here as a proxy for income, understates deprivation and poverty in all the three countries. This paper exploits the dimensional decomposability of the recent multidimensional poverty measures to examine the role of the individual dimensions in promoting multidimensional poverty, and provides evidence on the sensitivity of the decompositions to the cut off used to define poverty. The paper also provides evidence on child health, which is at odds with the overall progress that is portrayed by the multidimensional measures, especially in the context of India.
RPRT
Monash Economics Working Papers
Ray, Ranjan
Sinha, Kompal
2011
Monash University
Clayton, Victoria
1537