How accurate is a poverty map based on remote sensing data? An application to Malawi

Roy van der Weide, Brian Blankespoor, Chris Elbers and Peter Lanjouw

Journal of Development Economics, 2024, vol. 171, issue C

Abstract: This paper assesses the reliability of poverty maps derived from off-the-shelf remote-sensing data. Employing data for Malawi, it first obtains small area estimates of poverty by combining household expenditure survey data with population census data. It then ignores the population census and obtains a second poverty map by combining the survey with predictors of poverty derived from remote sensing data. The two approaches reveal the same patterns in the geography of poverty. However, there are instances where the two approaches obtain markedly different estimates of poverty. Poverty maps obtained using remote sensing data may do well when the decision maker is interested in comparisons of poverty between assemblies of areas yet may be less reliable when the focus is on estimates for specific small areas.

Keywords: Poverty; Small area estimation; Remote sensing data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C13 D31 I32 O15 R13 Y91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Working Paper: How Accurate Is a Poverty Map Based on Remote Sensing Data ? An Application to Malawi (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:171:y:2024:i:c:s0304387824001019

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103352

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