Publication: Cambodia Poverty Assessment: Toward a More Inclusive and Resilient Cambodia
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2022-11
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2022-11-28
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This poverty assessment evaluates Cambodia’s poverty reduction progress between 2009 and 2019 and contributing factors. Based on the authors understanding of contributing factors, the assessment asks what the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been, and what will be needed to support inclusive recovery. The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) recently updated the national poverty lines for Cambodia. Prompted by Cambodia’s transition to lower middle-income status in 2015, the RGC revisited the poverty measurement methodology in 2017; the review confirmed that the way Cambodians live and spend today has changed considerably as the country became richer, and that the national poverty lines needed revising to better reflect economic realities. This assessment uses the new poverty lines to evaluate Cambodia between 2009 and 2019, coupled with other data sources. This poverty assessment covers 5 chapters. Chapter 1 examines the progress Cambodia made in reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity between 2009 and 2019. Chapter 2 examines the evolution of nonmonetary poverty between 2009 and 2019. Chapter 3 examines the profile of poverty and inequality in 2019/20. Chapter 4 examines the 2019 fiscal system and its effects on poverty and inequality in 2019/20. Chapter 5 examines COVID-19 socio-economic effects on Cambodian Households in 2020.
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“Karamba, Wendy; Tong, Kimsun; Salcher, Isabelle. 2022. Cambodia Poverty Assessment: Toward a More Inclusive and Resilient Cambodia. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/38344 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication The Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Cambodia, Report No. 4(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03)The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on households create an urgent need for timely data and evidence to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis on the Cambodian people, especially the poor and most vulnerable. To monitor the evolving socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and inform policy responses and interventions, the World Bank designed and conducted a nationally representative High-Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS) of households in Cambodia. The survey covers important and relevant topics, including knowledge of COVID-19 and adoption of preventative behaviors, economic activity and income sources, access to basic goods and services, exposure to shocks and coping mechanisms, and access to social assistance. The survey will track the same households over 10 months, with selected respondents—typically the household head—completing interviews every 8 weeks. Monitoring the well-being of households over time will improve understanding of the effects of, and household responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in near-real time. This brief summarizes the findings of Round 4 (R4) of the HFPS. The information presented is based on a sample of 1,687 households, of which 410 were drawn from the nationally representative Living Standards Measurement Study Plus (LSMS+) survey and 1,277 from the list of beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer program for pregnant women and children under 2 with an IDPoor equity card (IDPoor sample). IDPoor is Cambodia’s national poverty identification program and official targeting mechanism for programs that support the poor. Unless otherwise noted, the results presented are primarily drawn from the LSMS+ sample. To trace the evolution of key indicators, the results of Round 4 (R4) implemented in December 2020–January 2021 are compared against results of Round 3 (R3) implemented October–November 2020, Round 2 (R2) implemented August–September 2020, and Round 1 (R1) implemented May–June 2020.Publication The Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Cambodia, Report No. 3(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-02)The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on households create an urgent need for timely data and evidence to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis on the Cambodian people, especially the poor and most vulnerable. To monitor the evolving socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and inform policy responses and interventions, the World Bank designed and conducted a nationally representative High-Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS) of households in Cambodia. 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IDPoor is Cambodia's national poverty identification program and official targeting mechanism for programs that support the poor. Unless otherwise noted, the results presented are primarily drawn from the LSMS+ sample. To trace the evolution of key indicators, the results of Round 3 (R3) implemented October-November 2020 are compared against results of Round 2 (R2) implemented August-September 2020 and Round 1 (R1) implemented May-June 2020.Publication The Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Cambodia, Report No. 5(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06)The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on households create an urgent need for timely data and evidence to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis on the Cambodian people, especially the poor and most vulnerable. To monitor the evolving socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and inform policy responses and interventions, the World Bank designed and conducted a nationally representative High-Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS) of households in Cambodia. The survey covers important and relevant topics, including knowledge of COVID-19 and adoption of preventative behaviors, economic activity and income sources, access to basic goods and services, exposure to shocks and coping mechanisms, and access to social assistance. The survey will track the same households over 10 months, with selected respondents - typically the household head - completing interviews every 8 weeks. Monitoring the well-being of households over time will improve understanding of the effects of, and household responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in near-real time. This brief summarizes the findings of Round 5 (R5) of the HFPS. 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To trace the evolution of key indicators, the results of Round 5 (R5) implemented in March 2021 are compared against results of Round 4 (R4) implemented in December 2020–January 2021, Round 3 (R3) implemented October–November 2020, Round 2 (R2) implemented August–September 2020, and Round 1 (R1) implemented May–June 2020.Publication Fiscal Policy Effects on Poverty and Inequality in Cambodia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-09-25)This study assesses the short-term impact of fiscal policy, and its individual elements, on poverty and inequality in Cambodia as of 2019. It applies the Commitment to Equity methodology to data from the Cambodia Socio-economic Survey of 2019/20 and fiscal administrative data from various government ministries, departments, and agencies for the assessment. The study presents among the first empirical evidence on the impact of taxes and social spending on households in Cambodia. The study finds that: (i) Cambodia’s 2019 fiscal system reduces inequality by 0.95 Gini index points, with the largest reduction in inequality created by in-kind transfers from spending on primary education; (ii) while Cambodia’s fiscal system reduces inequality, the degree of inequality reduction is small in international comparison; and (iii) low-income households pay more in indirect taxes than they receive in cash benefits in the short term to offset the burden. As a result, the number of poor and vulnerable individuals who, in the short term, experience net cash subtractions from their incomes is greater than the number of poor and vulnerable individuals who experience net additions. Fiscal policy can deliver more net benefits to poor and vulnerable households through expanding social assistance spending. Cambodia has embarked on this expansion during the coronavirus pandemic, bringing it closer in line with comparators.Publication The Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Cambodia, Report No. 2(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11)This brief summarizes the findings of round 2 (R2) of the high-frequency phone survey (HFPS) of households. The information presented is based on a sample of 1,667 households, of which 612 were drawn from the nationally representative living standard measurement study plus (LSMS+) and 1,055 from the list of beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer program for pregnant women and children under 2 with an IDPoor equity card (IDPoor sample). IDPoor is Cambodia’s national poverty identification program and official targeting mechanism for programs that support the poor. Unless otherwise noted, the results presented are primarily drawn from the LSMS sample. The results of R2 implemented August to September 2020 are compared against results of round 1 (R1) implemented May to June 2020 to trace the evolution of key indicators. The same households will be tracked over 10 months, with selected respondents - typically the household head - completing interviews every 8 weeks. Monitoring the well-being of households over time will improve understanding of the effects of, and household responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in near-real time.
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