Poverty Lines in Theory and Practice

Abstract

To present the results of the Living Standards Measurement Study with the least possible delay, the typescript of this paper has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to formal printed texts, and the World Bank accepts no responsibility for errors. Some sources cited in this paper may be informal documents that are not readily available. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author(s) and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, to its affiliated organizations, or to members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequence of their use. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this volume do not imply on the part of the World Bank Group any judgment on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

Counting the World's Poor: Problems and Possible Solutions

“…There is a tradition, followed in both the United States and India, of setting poverty lines with reference to what Ravallion (1998) refers to as "the nutritional requirements for good health." This is defined as the level of income (or total consumption) at which, on average, nutritional norms are met.…”

Resource degradation, marginalization, and poverty in small-scale fisheries: threats to social-ecological resilience in India and Brazil

“…Some are characterized by an assemblage of monetary and economic methods (Ravallion 1998, Laderchi 2000, Sachs 2005) and others use concepts such as access, entitlements, capabilities, and freedom to bring an institutional and political orientation to poverty (Sen 1981, Mearns 1996, Leach et al 1999. A number of frameworks are used in the literature, including sustainable livelihoods (Chambers and Conway 1992, Scoones 1998, Bebbington 1999, vulnerability (Blaikie 1994, Adger et al 2005, Allison and Horemans 2006, Marschke and Berkes 2006, social well-being (White and Ellison 2007, McGregor 2008, Bavinck 2009, Coulthard 2009, Trimble and Johnson 2013, Weeratunge et al 2013) and field-based, bottom-up and participatory tools to deal with social exclusion (Narayan et al 2000a, 2000b, Beck and Nesmith 2001, Laderchi et al 2003.…”

Does it Matter that we do not Agree on the Definition of Poverty? A Comparison of Four Approaches

“…the old or disabled) and it also raises the moral question of the appropriateness of defining poverty in such an instrumental way. Ravallion (1998) has suggested that the poverty line should be defined as the "minimum cost of the poverty level of utility". Yet this does not get one much further as the concept of a "minimum level of utility" is itself not well-defined.…”