Extending Multidimensional Poverty Identification. From Additive Weights to Minimal Bundles
In the popular class of multidimensional poverty measures introduced by Alkire and Foster (2011), a threshold switching function is used to identify who is multidimensionally poor. This paper shows that the weights and cut-off employed in this procedure are generally not unique and that such functions implicitly assume all groups of deprivation indicators of some fixed size are perfect substitutes. To address these limitations, I show how the identification procedure can be extended to incorporate any type of positive switching function, represented by the set of minimal deprivation bundles that define a unit as poor. Furthermore, the Banzhaf power index, uniquely defined from the same set of minimal bundles, constitutes a natural and robust metric of the relative importance of each indicator, from which the adjusted headcount can be estimated. I demonstrate the merit of this approach using data from Mozambique, including a decomposition of the adjusted headcount using a ‘one from each dimension’ non-threshold function.
Date: 14 February 2022, 16:00 (Monday, 5th week, Hilary 2022)
Venue: Online via Zoom
Speaker: Sam Jones (UNU-WIDER)
Organising department: Oxford Department of International Development
Organisers: Pedro Conceição (UNDP HDRO), Professor James Foster (Georges Washington University), Professor Sabina Alkire (University of Oxford)
Host: Professor James Foster (Georges Washington University)
Part of: OPHI Weekly Seminars: Multidimensional Poverty
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://bit.ly/register-14feb
Cost: Free
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Kelly-Ann Fonderson