Tracking Poverty Reduction in Bhutan: Income Deprivation Alongside Deprivation in Other Sources of Happiness

Autor/in	Santos, Maria Emma
Titel	Tracking Poverty Reduction in Bhutan: Income Deprivation Alongside Deprivation in Other Sources of Happiness
Quelle	In: Social Indicators Research, 112 (2013) 2, S.259-290 (32 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0303-8300
DOI	10.1007/s11205-013-0248-4
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Developing Nations; Social Indicators; Psychological Patterns; Rural Areas; Water; Sanitation; Disadvantaged Environment; Income; Ownership; Poverty; Economically Disadvantaged; Measurement; Sociometric Techniques; Economic Factors; Socioeconomic Influences; Quality of Life; Research Methodology; Comparative Analysis; Longitudinal Studies; National Surveys; Statistical Analysis; Bhutan + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Developing country; Developing countries; Entwicklungsland; Social indicator; Sozialer Indikator; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Wasser; Betriebshygiene; Einkommen; Eigentum; Armut; Messverfahren; Soziometrie; Ökonomischer Faktor; Sozioökonomischer Faktor; Lebensqualität; Research method; Forschungsmethode; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Statistische Analyse
Abstract	This paper analyses poverty reduction in Bhutan between two points in time--2003 and 2007--from a multidimensional perspective. The measures estimated include consumption expenditure as well as other indicators which are directly (when possible) or indirectly associated to valuable functionings, namely, health, education, access to electricity, safe water, improved sanitation, enough room per person in dwelling, access to roads and land ownership. Interestingly, most of these indicators have been identified as sources of happiness in the 2007 Gross National Happiness Survey. Twelve different measures are estimated with a variety of values for the different parameters involved for robustness analysis. Also, estimates are bootstrapped creating 95 % confidence intervals. We find that over the study period there was an unambiguous reduction in multidimensional poverty regardless of the indicators' weights, deprivation cutoffs and identification criterion of the poor. This reduction was mainly led by a reduction in the proportion of the poor which was accompanied by a reduction in the intensity of poverty among those who were less intensively poor, although not among those who were more intensively poor. Rather than accomplishing this poverty reduction by improving achievements in one or two indicators, there were significant reductions in several deprivations, especially in access to roads, electricity, water, sanitation, and education. We also find that when income alone is used to target the poor, inclusion errors are marginal but exclusion errors are sizeable. Despite Bhutan's significant progress, challenges remain as poverty is still high in rural areas. A multidimensional measure in the lines proposed in this paper can prove useful for monitoring poverty reduction, prioritizing groups and evaluating upon investment. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10