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Using ordinal variables to measure multidimensional poverty in Egypt and Jordan

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Abstract

This paper examines the empirical relevance of recent methodological refinements to the “counting approach” to multidimensional poverty measurement. It provides an empirical illustration based on data available in the Demographic and Health Surveys of Egypt and Jordan. The paper relies on the general framework proposed by Silber and Yalonetzky (2013) to compare multidimensional poverty measures, such as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and others that are sensitive to the distribution of deprivation counts among individuals. It thus computes the measures introduced by Chakravarty and D’Ambrosio, 2006 and Rippin (2010) as well as indices based on the extension of the Aaberge and Peluso (2012), suggested by Silber and Yalonetzky (2013). It appears that it is useful to consider several multidimensional poverty measures when analyzing national poverty trends and when making a distinction between urban and rural areas.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to add acknowledgments in the published version. Could you please add the following paragraph: I would like to thank Jacques Silber and two anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions as well as Audrey Verdier-Chouchane for her assistance.

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Correspondence to Valérie Bérenger.

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Bérenger, V. Using ordinal variables to measure multidimensional poverty in Egypt and Jordan. J Econ Inequal 15, 143–173 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-017-9349-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-017-9349-7

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