Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Sanjay Reddy
Author-X-Name-First: Sanjay
Author-X-Name-Last: Reddy
Author-Email: sr793@columbia.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, Barnard College, 
and Institute for Social and Economic Research and
 Policy, Columbia University

Author-Name: Sujata Visaria
Author-X-Name-First: Sujata
Author-X-Name-Last: Visaria
Author-Email: svisaria@bu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, Boston University

Author-Name: Muhammad Asali
Author-X-Name-First: Muhammad
Author-X-Name-Last: Asali
Author-Email:ma2093@columbia.edu 
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, Columbia University

Title: Inter-country Comparisons of Poverty Based on 
Capability Approach: An Empirical Exercise

Abstract: In previous work Reddy and Pogge have argued that inter-country comparisons
of income poverty based on poverty lines uniformly re?ecting the costs of the
basic requirements of human beings are superior to the existing money-metric
approaches. In this exercise, we implement a uniform approach to poverty assess-
ment based on basic human capabilities for three countries: Nicaragua, Tanzania
and Vietnam. We compute standard errors of the resulting poverty estimates
and compare the incidence of poverty across these three countries. The choice of
approach affects both cardinal estimates and ordinal rankings of poverty across
countries and over time. Meaningful and coherent inter-country poverty com-
parisons can be advanced through international co-ordination in survey design
and in the construction of income poverty lines that uniformly re?ect the costs
of the basic requirements of human beings.
Length:  26 pages
Creation-Date: 2006-07
Revision-Date: 
Publication-Status:
File-URL: http://people.bu.edu/svisaria/InterCountryFinal.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: 
Number: WP2006-038
Classification-JEL: 
Keywords: 
Handle: RePEc:bos:wpaper:WP2006-038