Can Subjective Questions on Economic Welfare Be Trusted? Evidence for Three Developing Countries

Himelein, Kristen; Ravallion, Martin; Beegle, Kathleen

Can Subjective Questions on Economic Welfare Be Trusted? Evidence for Three Developing Countries

Autores

Himelein, Kristen

Ravallion, Martin

Beegle, Kathleen

Editor

World Bank, Washington, DC

Descripción

While self-assessments of welfare have become popular for measuring poverty and estimating welfare effects, the methods can be deceptive given systematic heterogeneity in respondents' scales. Little is known about this problem. This study uses specially-designed surveys in three countries, Tajikistan, Guatemala, and Tanzania, to study scale heterogeneity. Respondents were asked to score stylized vignettes, as well as their own household. Diverse scales are in evidence, casting considerable doubt on the meaning of widely-used summary measures such as subjective poverty rates. Nonetheless, under the identifying assumptions of the study, only small biases are induced in the coefficients on widely-used regressors for subjective poverty and welfare.

Palabras clave

ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, ADULT MALE, AGRICULTURE, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA, CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISONS, DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT ISSUES, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMIC REVIEW, ECONOMIC WELFARE, ECONOMICS LITERATURE, EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, EXPECTED VALUES, FARMLAND, FUNCTIONAL FORMS, FUTURE RESEARCH, HETEROGENEITY, HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS, HOUSEHOLD DEMOGRAPHICS, HOUSEHOLD HEAD, HOUSEHOLD HEAD AGE, HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, INCOME, INCOME EFFECT, INCOME POVERTY, INEQUALITY, INTERNAL CONSISTENCY, LAND HOLDINGS, LAND SIZE, LANDOWNER, LIVING STANDARDS, LIVING STANDARDS MEASUREMENT, LIVING STANDARDS SURVEY, MARKET ECONOMIES, MEASURING POVERTY, MEAT, MICRO-REGIONS, NATURE, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY RESEARCH, POOR, POOR AREA, POOR AREAS, POOR HOUSEHOLD, POOR PEOPLE, POOR PEOPLES, POORER PEOPLE, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY LINES, POVERTY MEASURE, POVERTY MEASUREMENT, POVERTY MEASURES, POVERTY RATE, POVERTY RATES, POVERTY REDUCTION, PUBLIC GOOD, QUALITATIVE DATA, RANDOM VARIABLE, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, RICH COUNTRIES, RUNNING WATER, RURAL, SCHOOLING, SELF-RATED POVERTY, SOCIAL WELFARE, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENTS, SUBJECTIVE POVERTY, UNCERTAINTY, UNEMPLOYMENT, VARIANCE, VARIETY, WEALTH, WELFARE COMPARISONS, WELFARE FUNCTION, WELFARE LEVELS, WELFARE MEASURE, WELFARE MEASURES, WELFARE METRIC, WELFARE VARIABLE, WINTER MONTHS