For meaningful policy analysis, it is important not only to look at overall poverty, and compare countries or regions at a single point in time, but also to understand the distribution among the poor, the disparity across subgroups, and the dynamics of poverty. This extends the methodological...

This Chapter provides the reader with a general modelling framework for analysing the determinants of the Alkire and Foster (2011) poverty measures for both micro and macro levels of analyses. At the micro level, we present a model where the focal variable is a person's poverty status. At the...

The design of a poverty measure involves the selection of a set of parameters and poverty figures. In most cases the measures are estimated from sample surveys. This raises the question of how conclusive particular poverty comparisons are subject to both the set of selected parameters (or...

This chapter introduces empirical issues that are distinctive to counting-based multidimensional poverty methodologies. It is crucial that indicators accurately reflect deprivations at the individual level and that all indicators be transformed to reflect deprivations in the chosen unit of...

After a measurement methodology has been chosen, the design of poverty measures — whether unidimensional or multidimensional — require a series of normative choices. These choices relate to the space of the measure, its purpose, unit of identification and analysis, dimensions, indicators,...

This chapter provides a systematic overview of the Alkire-Foster multidimensional measurement methodology with an emphasis on the Adjusted Headcount Ratio. The chapter is divided into seven sections. The first shows how this measure combines the practical appeal of the counting tradition with...

The measurement of poverty involves identification: the fundamental step of deciding who is to be considered poor. A ‘counting approach' is one way to identify the poor in multidimensional poverty measurement, which entails the intuitive procedure of counting the number of dimensions in which...

This chapter presents a constructive survey of the major existing methods for measuring multidimensional poverty. Many measures were motivated by the basic needs approach, the capability approach, and the social inclusion approach among others. This chapter reviews Dashboards, the composite...

This working paper introduces the notation and basic concepts that are used throughout the OPHI Working Papers 82-91. The Paper has five sections. First we review unidimensional poverty measurement with particular attention to the well-known Foster-Greer-Thorbecke measures of income poverty as...

This working paper presents the normative, empirical, and policy motivations for focusing on multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis in general, and one measurement approach in particular. The fundamental normative motivation is to create effective measures that better reflect poor...