Journal of Economic Literature - Book Review

Debates on the Measurement of Global Poverty by Sudhir Anand, Paul Segal and Joseph E. Stiglitz

Published By: Initiative for Policy Dialogue Series. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 978-0-19-955803-2, cloth; 978-0-19-955804-9, pbk.
Date of Publication: 2010

Erik Thorbecke of Cornell University reviews "Debates on the Measurement of Global Poverty" edited by Sudhir Anand, Paul Segal and Joseph E. Stiglitz. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins "Fourteen papers examine the challenges and uncertainties involved in measuring global poverty. Papers discuss the debate on globalization, poverty, and inequality--why measurement matters; how not to count the poor; raising the standard--the war on global poverty; the irrelevance of the one dollar-a-day poverty line; the use of country purchasing power parities for international comparisons of poverty levels--potential and limitations; measuring poverty in a growing world (or measuring growth in a poor world); poverty or income distribution--which we want to measure; a note on the (mis)use of national accounts for estimation of household final consumption expenditures for poverty measures; unequal development in the 1990s--growing gaps in human capabilities; improving measurement of Latin American inequality and poverty with an eye to equitable growth policy; the changing nature of urban poverty in China; China is poorer than we thought but no less successful in the fight against poverty; poverty decline in India in the 1990s--a reality and not an artifact; and living standards in Africa. Anand is Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Official Fellow of St. Catherine's College, Oxford. Segal is a research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and the New College, University of Oxford. Stiglitz is Co-President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue and University Professor at Columbia University. Index."

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Erik Thorbecke of Cornell University

D31: Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
I32: Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
O15: Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
P36: Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions: Consumer Economics; Health, Education and Training, Welfare, and Poverty