On the Arbitrariness and Robustness of Multi-Dimensional Poverty Rankings

Mozaffar Qizilbash ()

No RP2004-37, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: It is often argued that multi-dimensional measures of well-being and poverty—such as those based on the capability approach and related views—are ad hoc. Rankings based on them are not, for this reason, robust to changes in the selection of weights used. In this paper, it is argued that the extent of potential arbitrariness and the range of issues relating to robustness have been underestimated in this context. Several issues relating to both the identification of the poor and the use of dimension-specific data are distinguished.

Keywords: Equality and inequality; Index numbers (Economics); Poverty measurement; Quality of life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Journal Article: On the Arbitrariness and Robustness of Multi-Dimensional Poverty Rankings (2004)
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