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Poverty in Kathmandu: What do subjective and objective economic welfare concepts suggest?

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Abstract

Conventional definitions suggest that the concept of economic welfare underpins poverty. Unsettled issues abound with respect to using subjective versus objective approaches, however. Using micro-level survey data, this paper explores subjective and objective concepts of economic welfare to identify characteristics of poverty in Kathmandu. While application of the subjective and objective concepts of economic welfare yields rather different characteristics, the former appears to be more comprehensive with ability to incorporate the latter in poverty measurement and analysis. This indicates that subjective assessments of households can provide a more realistic picture of poverty when used with actual income and consumption data. Although this paper does not seek to develop any particular poverty standard, it provides a useful framework for integrating subjective and objective approaches with a promise of more comprehensive poverty measurement outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Affairs and Administration, Western Michigan University, 1903 West Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008, USA

    Udaya R. Wagle

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  1. Udaya R. Wagle
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Correspondence to Udaya R. Wagle.

Additional information

This is to note that two other related papers have appeared or are forthcoming in other journals based on the same dataset collected in Kathmandu in 2002/2003. Their substantive foci are quite different, however. The paper entitled “Multidimensional Poverty Measurement with Economic Well-being, Capability, and Social Inclusion: A Case from Kathmandu, Nepal” (2005, Journal of Human Development, 6(3)), for example, contends that the multidimensional approach, which it operationalizes, provides more realistic poverty measurement outcomes, with usefulness to direct policy resources at target groups experiencing different degrees of poverty. The next paper “The Estimates and Characteristics of Poverty in Kathmandu: What Do Three Measurement Standards Suggest?” (Forthcoming, Social Science Journal, 43(4)), on the other hand, gauges the extent of poverty in Kathmandu, applying traditional income, consumption, and relative poverty thresholds, and identifies characteristics of poor households. Despite these substantive differences, however, I must concede that readers will still find some overlap due to unitary data source and contextual invariance.

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Wagle, U.R. Poverty in Kathmandu: What do subjective and objective economic welfare concepts suggest?. J Econ Inequal 5, 73–95 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-006-9026-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-006-9026-8

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