Improving data on poverty in the Third World: the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study

Paul Glewwe

No 416, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper is an account of the World Bank's effort to collect household-level data on poverty in developing countries and what that data says about the effects of government policies on living conditions of the poor. The main objective of the Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) surveys is to provide household-level data for evaluating the population's living conditions. This paper gives a history of LSMS and shows general trends that emerged in studies for which LSMS data are available: (a) most of the poor are in rural areas; (b) most of the poor are in households in which the head works in agriculture; and (c) the heads of poor households have low levels of education. Selected results of studies on the persistence of poverty, the effects on the poor, structural adjustment, food stamps and food subsidies, and raising user fees for health care and education are presented.

Keywords: Poverty Assessment; Environmental Economics&Policies; Poverty Lines; Economic Theory&Research; ICT Policy and Strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1990-05-31
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:416

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