Conceptions of PovertyComparing classifications of people

Mariano RojasFLACSO-México & UPAEP

New Directions in Welfare Economics, Paris July 6-8, 2011

Concepts and Conceptions

• Concept– A vague and general idea– An umbrella concept

• Conception– Substance given to the concept– A specific understanding– Historical and regional – May change over time and across cultures

Concepts and Conceptions

• Conceptions and its measurement– Easy task for concrete single human attributes

» Height, Weight, Hunger, Pain, Frustration, Failure

– Difficult task for non-concrete and multiple human attributes

– Constructed

• This is the case of poverty, as well as progress, democracy and others

The Poor: To Identify or to Classify?

• To identify: An incorrect approach

– Suggests» A concrete human attribute» A true figure out there» An attribute which is independent of the

researcher/classifier» Correct and incorrect measurements

• Measurements can be evaluated; How close is it to the true figure?

The Poor: To Identify or to Classify?

• To classify people as poor

• There is no true figure• There is no concrete rate to contrast criteria to• There is a classifier: classifying people as poor• The classifier: selecting the conception

» Constructed areas of social concern

Relevance of the Conception

• The relevance of the conception• Who ends up being classified as poor?• Who is subject or beneficiary of pubic policy• What kind of public policy is required• How achievements in public policy are assessed?

– A different issue• Does it matters to people?

Conceptions of Poverty

• The approach• Presumption, Imputation, Subjective

• Theoretically driven (Presumption)• Normatively driven (Imputation)• Subjective well-being driven (People’s well-being

report)

Conceptions of Poverty

• Income (Theory - Economic)• Income, Assets

• Capabilities (Normative - Imputation)• Instruments

• Multidimensional (Theory and Imputation)• Housing condition, Hunger

• Experienced (Subjective well-being)• Life satisfaction, life evaluation, affective state

Measurements of Poverty

• The measurement• Variables chosen

• Risk: conceptualization must come first• Avoid conceptualizing on the basis of measurement

• Defining thresholds• Arbitrary, many options, robustness

Measurement of Poverty

• Mexican survey• Representative• 2000 observations• 2 central states

• Income• Household per capita income• Threshold: US$ 2 dollars per day

Measurement of Poverty

• Capabilities• Short version of CMP (Anand and colleagues’) instrument• Principal components• Threshold: one StdDev beneath mean

• Multidimensional• Mexico’s definition

» Housing condition, Hunger, working benefits

• Thresholds» As defined by Mexico’s social evaluation institute

Measurement of Poverty

• Experienced• Based on subjective well-being• Different understandings: substrate of

information» Life satisfaction, life evaluation, affects

• Threshold:» Bottom of the scale

Comparing Conceptions of Poverty

• No time to argue in favor of a conception• Just to show that the issue is of relevance

• Dissonances and consonances• Do we end up classifying the same people as poor?

– To Classify ≠ To identify

Consonances and dissonances

Conception 2

Poor Non Poor

Conception 1

Poor Consonance Dissonance

Non Poor Dissonance Consonance

Dissonance in Classification

Asset- POV LS- POV LA- POV CAP- POV Housing- POV Hunger- POV0

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Dissonance People in Income Poverty

Dissonance in Classification

Income- POV Asset- POV LS- POV LA- POV Cap- POV Housing- POV0

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Dissonance People in Asset Poverty

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Dissonance in Classification

Income- POV Asset- POV LS- POV LA- POV Cap- POV Housing- POV0

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DissonancePeople in Life-Satisfaction Poverty

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Dissonance in Classification

Income- POV Asset- POV LS- POV LA- POV Cap- POV Housing- POV0

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Dissonance People in Life-Appreciation Poverty

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Dissonance in Classification

Income- POV Asset- POV LS- POV LA- POV Cap- POV Housing- POV0

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DissonancePeople in Capabilities Poverty

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Dissonance in Classification

Income- POV Asset- POV LS- POV LA- POV Cap- POV Housing- POV0

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DissonancePeople in Housing Poverty

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Dissonance in Classification

Income- POV Asset- POV LS- POV LA- POV Cap- POV Housing- POV0

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DissonancePeople in Hunger Poverty

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Conclusion

• The conception matters• Great dissonances in the classification of people as

poor

– Conception precedes measurement• Further discussion on the conception• Poverty as low/lack of well-being

– What is well-being?– How do we know it?– Who is the authority to assess it and on what basis?

Conclusion

• The classifier matters» We are not identifying the poor, we are classifying people as

poor» Choosing and arguing about conceptions, methodologies and

methods

– Study of the classifier» Motivations» Selection of classification criteria: conception» Incentives » Biases:

• Disciplinary compartmentalization• Perspectivism, ethnocentricism• Focus of interest, attention• Universalism

Thanks