Development and the Distribution of Living Standards: A <i>Critique</i> of the Evolving Data Base

Household surveys of the distribution of income and expenditure are discussed in this paper. The potential for non-sampling errors, effecting both the mean and measures of dispersion, is noted. These errors are shown to result in substantial discrepancies between the survey data and national accounts-based estimates of the incidence of poverty and trends in living standards. It is argued that the reconciliation of these discrepancies offers the best way forward for improving both types of data. Copyright 2003 by the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth.