Developing Poverty Assessment Tools

This presentation details the project implemented by The IRIS Center for identifying a set of a poverty indicatorsThe presentation describes the:

• Technique for identifying the very poor;
• Design of the test to recognize the indicators ability to act as a substitute for poverty;
• Execution of the test;
• Results of the test;
• Some facts relating to the predictors:
  • Accuracy improves with additional predictors,
  • Lower accuracy exists among poor compared to non-poor,
  • Indicators vary in their degree of practicality, and there is a trade-off between accuracy and practicality.

The presentation illustrates another comparative LSMS data analysis carried out to:

• Spot best poverty predictors;
• Evaluate them over larger number of countries.

At the end, the presentation explores:

• Test of the indicators for practicality to determine whether the tools are low cost and easy to use;
• A poverty assessment tool;
• Data collection methodologies.