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Estimating poverty and inequality in the absence of consumption data: an application to the Middle East and North Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Caroline Krafft
  • Ragui Assaad
  • Hanan Nazier
  • Racha Ramadan
  • Atiyeh Vahidmanesh
  • Sami Zouari

Abstract

Measures of consumption and poverty are critical metrics of the wellbeing of individuals, their households, communities, and countries. Collecting data on consumption and poverty is challenging and costly, and therefore these measures are only infrequently available in survey data. In this paper, we demonstrate how information commonly available in household surveys can be used to impute consumption, even recovering the original variance, which is crucial for assessments of poverty and inequality. Our application adds consumption estimates to the publicly available Labor Market Panel Surveys for Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, which can act as a valuable resource for researchers interested in the intersection of inequality, poverty, and a host of labor market behaviors in the Middle East and North Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Caroline Krafft & Ragui Assaad & Hanan Nazier & Racha Ramadan & Atiyeh Vahidmanesh & Sami Zouari, 2019. "Estimating poverty and inequality in the absence of consumption data: an application to the Middle East and North Africa," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 1-29, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rmdjxx:v:11:y:2019:i:1:p:1-29
    DOI: 10.1080/17938120.2019.1583493

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    Cited by:

    1. Anis Saidi & Mekki Hamdaoui & Wajdi Moussa, 2021. "Assessing Policy Effectiveness in Reducing Inequality of Opportunity in Access to Public Services and Education Among Tunisian Children," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(3), pages 993-1018, September.
    2. Daniele Checchi & Andrej Cupak & Teresa Munzi & Janet Gornick, 2018. "Empirical challenges comparing inequality across countries," LIS Working papers 756, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Betti, Gianni & Crescenzi, Federico & Dang, Hai-Anh H & Molini, Vasco & Mori, Lorenzo, 2025. "Reconstructing Two Decades of Inequality in the Sahel Region," IZA Discussion Papers 18286, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Betti,Gianni & Molini,Vasco & Mori,Lorenzo, 2022. "New Algorithm to Estimate Inequality Measures in Cross-Survey Imputation : An Attemptto Correct the Underestimation of Extreme Values," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10013, The World Bank.
    5. Hanan Nazier & Racha Ramadan, 2015. "Informality and Poverty: A Causality Dilemma with Application to Egypt," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 5(4), pages 1-4.
    6. Daniele Checchi & Andrej Cupak & Teresa Munzi & Janet Gornick, 2018. "Empirical challenges comparing inequality across countries: The case of middle-income countries from the LIS database," WIDER Working Paper Series 149, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Ragui Assaad & Hanan Nazier & Rasha Ramadan, 2015. "Empowerment is a Community Affair: Community Level Determinants of Married Women's Empowerment in Egypt," Working Papers 959, Economic Research Forum, revised Oct 2015.
    8. Daniele Checchi & Andrej Cupak & Teresa Munzi & Janet Gornick, 2018. "Empirical challenges comparing inequality across countries: The case of middle-income countries from the LIS database," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-149, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Betti, Gianni & Molini, Vasco & Mori, Lorenzo, 2024. "An attempt to correct the underestimation of inequality measures in cross-survey imputation through generalized additive models for location, scale and shape," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    10. Racha Ramadan & Vladimir Hlasny & Vito Intini, 2018. "Inter‐Group Expenditure Gaps In The Arab Region And Their Determinants: Application To Egypt, Jordan, Palestine And Tunisia," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(s1), pages 145-188, October.

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