Publication: A Welfarist Theory Unifying Monetary and Non-Monetary Poverty Measurement
Loading...
Published
2022-06
ISSN
Date
2022-06-10
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Multidimensional poverty measures are increasingly used in practice even though they face strong criticism and generate longlasting debates. These contentions primarily find their origin in the divergence between standard poverty identification practices and a welfarist definition of the poor. This paper fills this gap by constructing a poverty measurement theory that (i) adopts a welfarist definition of the poor, (ii) acknowledges that the relevant welfare function is only partially known and (iii) encompasses both market and non-market dimensions of well-being. The theory shows that standard identification practices are not flexible enough in order to properly account for the multidimensional nature of well-being. This nature implies that an individual is poor when she experiences an extremely low outcome in some dimension or/and when she cumulates moderately low outcomes in several dimensions. The paper proposes a simple refinement that better reflects this insight. The paper uses the theory in order to provide answers to several longlasting debates. The theory provides a conceptual foundation from which practitioners may derive guidance for the many choices they face.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Decerf, Benoit. 2022. A Welfarist Theory Unifying Monetary and Non-Monetary Poverty Measurement. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37520 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication The Economic Value of Weather Forecasts: A Quantitative Systematic Literature Review(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-10)This study systematically reviews the literature that quantifies the economic benefits of weather observations and forecasts in four weather-dependent economic sectors: agriculture, energy, transport, and disaster-risk management. The review covers 175 peer-reviewed journal articles and 15 policy reports. Findings show that the literature is concentrated in high-income countries and most studies use theoretical models, followed by observational and then experimental research designs. Forecast horizons studied, meteorological variables and services, and monetization techniques vary markedly by sector. Estimated benefits even within specific subsectors span several orders of magnitude and broad uncertainty ranges. An econometric meta-analysis suggests that theoretical studies and studies in richer countries tend to report significantly larger values. Barriers that hinder value realization are identified on both the provider and user sides, with inadequate relevance, weak dissemination, and limited ability to act recurring across sectors. Policy reports rely heavily on back-of-the-envelope or recursive benefit-transfer estimates, rather than on the methods and results of the peer-reviewed literature, revealing a science-to-policy gap. These findings suggest substantial socioeconomic potential of hydrometeorological services around the world, but also knowledge gaps that require more valuation studies focusing on low- and middle-income countries, addressing provider- and user-side barriers and employing rigorous empirical valuation methods to complement and validate theoretical models.Publication It’s Not (Just) the Tariffs: Rethinking Non-Tariff Measures in a Fragmented Global Economy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-22)As tariffs have declined, non-tariff measures (NTMs) have become central to trade policy, especially in high-income countries and regulated sectors like food and green technologies. Although NTMs may serve legitimate goals, they could also sort countries and firms into or out of markets based on compliance capacity and differences in product mix. Documenting recent advances in the estimation of ad valorem equivalents (AVEs), this paper uncovers new patterns of use and exposure of NTMs. High-income countries rely more heavily on NTMs relative to tariffs, while low- and middle-income countries face steeper AVEs on their exports. Firm-level evidence shows that NTMs disproportionately affect smaller firms, leading to market exit and concentration. Poorly designed NTMs can harm productivity and welfare, while coordinated, capacity-aware use can deliver inclusive outcomes. Policy design, transparency, and diagnostics must evolve to reflect the growing role—and risks—of NTMs in a fragmented global trade landscape.Publication Monitoring Global Aid Flows: A Novel Approach Using Large Language Models(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-04)Effective monitoring of development aid is the foundation for assessing the alignment of flows with their intended development objectives. Existing reporting systems, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Creditor Reporting System, provide standardized classification of aid activities but have limitations when it comes to capturing new areas like climate change, digitalization, and other cross-cutting themes. This paper proposes a bottom-up, unsupervised machine learning framework that leverages textual descriptions of aid projects to generate highly granular activity clusters. Using the 2021 Creditor Reporting System data set of nearly 400,000 records, the model produces 841 clusters, which are then grouped into 80 subsectors. These clusters reveal 36 emerging aid areas not tracked in the current Creditor Reporting System taxonomy, allow unpacking of “multi-sectoral” and “sector not specified” classifications, and enable estimation of flows to new themes, including World Bank Global Challenge Programs, International Development Association–20 Special Themes, and Cross-Cutting Issues. Validation against both Creditor Reporting System benchmarks and International Development Association commitment data demonstrates robustness. This approach illustrates how machine learning and the new advances in large language models can enhance the monitoring of global aid flows and inform future improvements in aid classification and reporting. It offers a useful tool that can support more responsive and evidence-based decision-making, helping to better align resources with evolving development priorities.Publication The Macroeconomic Implications of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-29)Estimating the macroeconomic implications of climate change impacts and adaptation options is a topic of intense research. This paper presents a framework in the World Bank's macrostructural model to assess climate-related damages. This approach has been used in many Country Climate and Development Reports, a World Bank diagnostic that identifies priorities to ensure continued development in spite of climate change and climate policy objectives. The methodology captures a set of impact channels through which climate change affects the economy by (1) connecting a set of biophysical models to the macroeconomic model and (2) exploring a set of development and climate scenarios. The paper summarizes the results for five countries, highlighting the sources and magnitudes of their vulnerability --- with estimated gross domestic product losses in 2050 exceeding 10 percent of gross domestic product in some countries and scenarios, although only a small set of impact channels is included. The paper also presents estimates of the macroeconomic gains from sector-level adaptation interventions, considering their upfront costs and avoided climate impacts and finding significant net gross domestic product gains from adaptation opportunities identified in the Country Climate and Development Reports. Finally, the paper discusses the limits of current modeling approaches, and their complementarity with empirical approaches based on historical data series. The integrated modeling approach proposed in this paper can inform policymakers as they make proactive decisions on climate change adaptation and resilience.Publication The State of Global Services Trade Policies: Evidence from Recent Data(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-10-28)The economic environment for services trade has changed dramatically over the past 15 years, driven by rapid technological progress that has expanded the possibilities for exchanging services. How has trade policy responded to these changes? How do policy stances in a wide range of service sectors compare across economies? With its unprecedented global coverage, the Services Trade Policy Database and the associated Services Trade Restrictions Index, developed jointly by the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, help address these questions. This paper makes three principal contributions. First, it offers an in-depth discussion of the current state of services trade policies and their differences across 134 economies and 34 services subsectors. Second, the paper reveals how recent (2016–22) changes in policy stances have seen progressive liberalization by lower-income economies but stabilization or even slight policy reversals in high-income economies. This dynamic differs fundamentally from the trend that unfolded after the Great Recession over 2008–16. Third, the paper shows the implications of policy changes over the past six years on services trade costs, and it showcases how the Services Trade Policy Database’s regulatory information can inform trade negotiations, regulatory analysis, and policy making. Alongside these contributions, the paper documents updates to the Services Trade Policy Database’s economy and sector coverage and explains the latest methodological improvements made to the World Bank–World Trade Organization Services Trade Restrictions Index.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Normative Indicators Combining Poverty and Mortality(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-05)This paper surveys the small branch of welfare economics that studies indicators combining poverty and mortality. The paper distinguishes two reasons for constructing such indicators. The first reason is to perform multidimensional well-being comparisons. For this purpose, mortality has (negative) intrinsic value. The key question relates to the trade-off that the indicator makes between poverty and mortality, that is, between the quality and quantity of life. A lifecycle utility approach suggests expressing this trade-off as the number of years spent in poverty that is deemed equivalent to one year lost to mortality. The second reason is to investigate the instrumental role that selective mortality—the fact that the poor tend to die earlier—has on the evolution of poverty measures. Then, the key question is how to define the counterfactual situation against which the instrumental impact of mortality is assessed.Publication Integrating Mortality into Poverty Measurement through the Poverty Adjusted Life Expectancy Index(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-07)Poverty measures typically do not account for mortality, resulting in counter-intuitive evaluations. The reason is that they (i) suffer from a mortality paradox and (ii) do not attribute intrinsic value to the lifespan. The paper proposes the first poverty index that always attributes a positive value to lifespan and does not suffer from the mortality paradox. This index, called the poverty-adjusted life expectancy, follows an expected lifecycle utility approach a la Harsanyi and is based on a single normative parameter that transparently captures the trade-off between poverty and mortality. This indicator can be straightforwardly generalized to account for unequal lifespans. Empirically, we show that accounting for mortality substantially changes cross-country comparisons and trends. The paper also quantifies the fraction of these comparisons that are robust to the choice of the normative parameter.Publication Reconceptualizing Global Multidimensional Poverty Measurement, with Illustration on Nigerian Data(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-10-03)Multidimensional poverty measures can in theory make well-being comparisons that are less biased than those solely based on monetary poverty. However, global multidimensional poverty measures suffer in practice from limitations that have led to credible criticisms. This paper presents the case for multidimensional poverty measures, two criticisms against their current implementations, as well as recently proposed solutions to improve on these criticisms. The paper develops a method for implementing these solutions in practice. The resulting well-being indicator is used to compare well-being across Nigerian states in 2019. This empirical illustration suggests that these solutions may substantially affect well-being comparisons. The paper also quantifies the potential bias inherent to comparing well-being solely based on monetary poverty. The results find substantially different well-being comparisons between the proposed well-being indicator and monetary poverty even though monetary poverty was (i) high in Nigeria in 2019 and (ii) very heterogeneously distributed across Nigerian states; and (iii) is integrated as one component of the proposed well-being indicator. The paper aims to improve global multidimensional poverty measures by making them more consistent with preference theory and by incorporating the direct impact of mortality, which deprives individuals of the most important functioning.Publication Multidimensional Well-Being Measurement Practices(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-12)Multidimensional well-being indicators have the potential to reduce the “bias” associated to monetary indicators. However, they face stringent data constraints. This paper studies the construction of indicators that strike a balance between (i) reliability in approximating conceptually sound well-being comparisons and (ii) simplicity of application and communication. The recommendations focus on global multidimensional poverty measures. The paper identifies three potential sources of improvements: “wasting” less data, better filtering the data, and further developing multidimensional analysis. Less information would be “wasted” by avoiding needlessly dichotomizing all the variables, using the available mortality data, and combining variables from separate surveys. To filter the data better, “equal weights” could be replaced by weights selected from external information on preferences. When the data permit, the unit of analysis should be switched from household level to individual level. Finally, multidimensional indicators should be used to help move beyond a suboptimal “dimension-by-dimension” approach to policy making.Publication Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation : Methods and Tools for Poverty and Inequality Reduction Programs(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-01)As the author enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, governments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), philanthropic organizations, and civil society groups worldwide are actively focusing on evidence-based policy and increased accountability to stakeholders (results agenda).The widespread implementation of the Results Agenda has generated a plethora of books, guides, academic papers, trainings, and case studies, which has enabled an ongoing maturation process in the field. Consequently, specialists are now better equipped to understand what works under which circumstances. Broadly speaking there are two interrelated questions which must be answered when assessing the sustainability of a government results agenda. First, is the institutional design and practice of government conducive to evidence-based policy making? Second, are the overarching monitoring and evaluation (M&E) methods and specific tools used appropriate for garnering the evidence demanded by government? These series of notes aim to make a small contribution to the latter question by summarizing and highlighting a selection of PM&E methods and the tools that governments and international organizations around the world have developed to put these into practice in their own contexts. The central goal of this initiative is to prompt a process of learning, reflection and action by providing practical information to those whose leadership role requires them to understand PM&E methods and their potential for enhancing evidence-based policy making.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-11)After several years of negative shocks, global growth is expected to hold steady in 2024 and then edge up in the next couple of years, in part aided by cautious monetary policy easing as inflation gradually declines. However, economic prospects are envisaged to remain tepid, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Risks to the outlook, while more balanced, are still tilted to the downside, including the possibility of escalating geopolitical tensions, further trade fragmentation, and higher-for-longer interest rates. Natural disasters related to climate change could also hinder activity. Subdued growth prospects across many emerging market and developing economies and continued risks underscore the need for decisive policy action at the global and national levels. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.