Meaning versus measurement: why do ‘economic’ indicators of poverty still predominate?

It is virtually undisputed that poverty is multi-dimensional. However, ‘economic’ or monetary measures of poverty still maintain a higher status in key development indicators and policy. This article is concerned with the apparent contradiction between the consensus over the meaning of poverty and the choice of methods with which to measure poverty in practice. A brief history of the meaning and measurement of poverty is given, and it is argued that ‘economic’ determinism, while it has gradually retreated from centrality in the meaning of poverty, has continued to dominate the measurement of poverty. This is followed by a section that contrasts the relative merits of ‘economic’ and ‘non-economic’ measures of poverty. The question is posed: why do ‘economic’ measures of poverty still have a higher status than non-economic measures?

[1]  Amartya Sen,et al.  The Concept of Development , 1988 .

[2]  T. N. Srinivasan,et al.  Human Development: A New Paradigm or Reinvention of the Wheel? , 1994 .

[3]  G. Ranis.  World Development Report 1980. , 1981 .

[4]  A. Sagar,et al.  Shaping human development: Which way next? , 1999 .

[5]  Ravi Kanbur,et al.  The Evolution of Thinking About Poverty: Exploring the Interactions , 1999 .

[6]  R. Silburn,et al.  The meaning and measurement of poverty , 2002 .

[7]  M. D. Morris,et al.  Measuring the Condition of the World's Poor: The Physical Quality of Life Index , 1979 .

[8]  C. O'loughlin.  Contents and Measurement of Socioeconomic Development , 1973 .

[9]  H. White,et al.  Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in Poverty Analysis , 2002 .

[10]  J. Church.  Human Development Report , 2001 .

[11]  J. Figueroa.  The Meaning of Development , 1971 .

[12]  M. McGillivray,et al.  Composite Indices of Human Well-being: Past, Present, and Future , 2007 .

[13]  D. Narayan,et al.  Empowerment and Poverty Reduction: A Sourcebook , 2002 .

[14]  A. Sen,et al.  Choice, Welfare and Measurement , 1982 .

[15]  R. Kanbur,et al.  GROWTH, INEQUALITY AND POVERTY: SOME HARD QUESTIONS , 2004 .

[16]  R. Chambers.  Whose Reality Counts?: Putting the First Last , 1997 .

[17]  S. Maxwell,et al.  The Meaning and Measurement of Poverty , 1999 .

[18]  S. Kosslyn,et al.  Concept development. , 1982, Advances in child development and behavior.

[19]  Kenneth E. Parsons.  Employment, Growth and Basic Needs: A One World Problem , 1976, The Journal of Modern African Studies.

[20]  Mark McGillivray,et al.  The Human Development Index: Yet Another Redundant Composite Development Indicator? , 1991 .

[21]  K. Schafft,et al.  Can anyone hear us? Voices from 47 countries. , 1999 .

[22]  P. Streeten.  Basic Needs: Some Unsettled Questions , 1984 .

[23]  A. Sen,et al.  Well-Being, Agency and Freedom the Dewey Lectures 1984 * , 1985 .