This paper presents a new Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for 104 developing countries. It is the first time multidimensional poverty is estimated using micro datasets (household surveys) for such a large number of countries which cover about 78 percent of the world´s population. The MPI has the mathematical structure of one of the Alkire and Foster poverty multidimensional measures and it is composed of ten indicators corresponding to same three dimensions as the Human Development Index: Education, Health and Standard of Living. Our results indicate that 1,700 million people in the world live in acute poverty, a figure that is between the $1.25/day and $2/day poverty rates. Yet it is no $1.5/day measure. The MPI captures direct failures in functionings that Amartya Sen argues should form the focal space for describing and reducing poverty. It constitutes a tool with an extraordinary potential to target the poorest, track the Millennium Development Goals, and design policies that directly address the interlocking deprivations poor people experience. This paper presents the methodology and components in the MPI, describes main results, and shares basic robustness tests.

Acute Multidimensional Poverty: A New Index for Developing Countries

Many studies in sub-Saharan Africa have occasionally reported a higher prevalence of stunting in male children compared to female children. This study examined whether there are systematic sex differences in stunting rates in children under-five years of age, and how the sex differences in stunting rates vary with household socio-economic status. Data from the most recent 16 demographic and health surveys (DHS) in 10 sub-Saharan countries were analysed. Two separate variables for household socio-economic status (SES) were created for each country based on asset ownership and mothers' education. Quintiles of SES were constructed using principal component analysis. Sex differentials with stunting were assessed using Student's t-test, chi square test and binary logistic regressions. The prevalence and the mean z-scores of stunting were consistently lower amongst females than amongst males in all studies, with differences statistically significant in 11 and 12, respectively, out of the 16 studies. The pooled estimates for mean z-scores were -1.59 for boys and -1.46 for girls with the difference statistically significant (p < 0.001). The stunting prevalence was also higher in boys (40%) than in girls (36%) in pooled data analysis; crude odds ratio 1.16 (95% CI 1.12–1.20); child age and individual survey adjusted odds ratio 1.18 (95% CI 1.14–1.22). Male children in households of the poorest 40% were more likely to be stunted compared to females in the same group, but the pattern was not consistent in all studies, and evaluation of the SES/sex interaction term in relation to stunting was not significant for the surveys. In sub-Saharan Africa, male children under five years of age are more likely to become stunted than females, which might suggest that boys are more vulnerable to health inequalities than their female counterparts in the same age groups. In several of the surveys, sex differences in stunting were more pronounced in the lowest SES groups.

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Boys are more stunted than girls in Sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis of 16 demographic and health surveys

This paper reviews 188 published papers on frontier efficiency measurement. The techniques used are mainly based on non-parametric data envelopment analysis, but there is increasing use of parametric techniques, such as stochastic frontier analysis. Applications both to hospitals and wider health care areas are reviewed and summarised, and some meta-type analysis undertaken. Results appear to confirm earlier findings that public provision demonstrates less variability than private. The paper is meant as a resource in itself, but also points to the future in terms of possible directions for research in efficiency measurement in health care and health.

Non-parametric and parametric applications measuring efficiency in health care.

This paper presents a new Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for 104 developing countries. It is the first time multidimensional poverty is estimated using micro datasets (household surveys) for such a large number of countries which cover about 78 percent of the world´s population. The MPI has the mathematical structure of one of the Alkire and Foster poverty multidimensional measures and it is composed of ten indicators corresponding to same three dimensions as the Human Development Index: Education Health and Standard of Living. The MPI captures a set of direct deprivations that batter a person at the same time. This tool could be used to target the poorest track the Millennium Development Goals and design policies that directly address the interlocking deprivations poor people experience. This paper presents the methodology and components in the MPI describes main results and shares basic robustness tests.

/pdf/acute-multidimensional-poverty-a-new-index-for-developing-30xaxxvrek.pdf

Objective The objectives of this study were to report on socioeconomic inequality in childhood malnutrition in the developing world, to provide evidence for an association between socioeconomic inequality and the average level of malnutrition, and to draw attention to different patterns of socioeconomic inequality in malnutrition. Methods Both stunting and wasting were measured using new WHO child growth standards. Socioeconomic status was estimated by principal component analysis using a set of household assets and living conditions. Socioeconomic inequality was measured using an alternative concentration index that avoids problems with dependence on the mean level of malnutrition. Findings In almost all countries investigated, stunting and wasting disproportionately affected the poor. However, socioeconomic inequality in wasting was limited and was not significant in about one third of countries. After correcting for the concentration index’s dependence on mean malnutrition, there was no clear association between average stunting and socioeconomic inequality. The latter showed different patterns, which were termed mass deprivation, queuing and exclusion. Although average levels of malnutrition were higher with the new WHO reference standards, estimates of socioeconomic inequality were largely unaffected by changing the growth standards. Conclusion Socioeconomic inequality in childhood malnutrition existed throughout the developing world, and was not related to the average malnutrition rate. Failure to tackle this inequality is a cause of social injustice. Moreover, reducing the overall rate of malnutrition does not necessarily lead to a reduction in inequality. Policies should, therefore, take into account the distribution of childhood malnutrition across all socioeconomic groups.

/pdf/socioeconomic-inequality-in-malnutrition-in-developing-21drxr1o1r.pdf

Socioeconomic inequality in malnutrition in developing countries

Objectives
To assess and quantify the magnitude of inequalities in under-five child malnutrition, particularly those ascribable to socio-economic status and to consider the policy implications of these findings.

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Inequities in under-five child malnutrition in South Africa

Technical efficiency and productivity of public sector hospitals in three south african provinces

The study was carried out to assess the magnitude of, and change in, inequities in self-reported adult illness and use of healthcare and to consider the policy implications of the findings. Datasets from three household surveys carried out in 1993, 1995, and 1998 were used. Inequities were measured using illness and healthcare-use concentration indices. Self-reported adult illness was greater among the rich in 1993, but this was reversed to reflect higher levels of reported illness among the poor in 1995 and 1998. Inequities were observed in self-reported injury and disability/chronic illness that favour the rich. The poor also reported more days of sickness compared to the rich. Overall, there were higher levels of use of doctors and hospital services by the rich, relative to their levels of reported illness. In contrast, there was a greater use of public-sector facilities by the poor. The time taken to reach a health facility also had a bias in favour of the rich. Although there were some favourable changes in the levels of inequities between the three time periods, there still remained considerable inequities that favoured the rich in self-reported adult illness and use of health services that need to be addressed. The consequences of higher concentration of chronic illness/disability and injury among the poor have far-reaching negative consequences on the socioeconomic welfare of the individuals and households. Redressing these inequities needs a holistic strategy that transcends the health sector.

Eyob Zere

Papers

Inequities in under-five child malnutrition in South Africa

Technical efficiency and productivity of public sector hospitals in three south african provinces

Equity in self-reported adult illness and use of health service in South Africa: inter-temporal comparison.