OPHI

Ongoing Debates and Research Topics

Overview of Research Topics

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Overview of Research Topics

The list below is not comprehensive, but covers some of the key research issues that have been identified by OPHI researchers. Please watch Part 2 of the video to get a further explanation by Sabina Alkire.

Research Issues: Data for MPI

• Can we improve international data for MPI calculations?
• Should we ‘call for’ a survey having a specific set of dimensions and indicators? And which?

Research Issues: General data

• Data Constraints: Most criticisms address these (why don’t you include _____?).
• identify ‘new’ questionnaires on standard surveys
• identify ‘new’ dimensions
• survey problems: individual level data, excluded populations
• the consequence of the combination of surveys, administrative data, mapping
• the consequence of the combination of data for different reference groups

Research issues: implementation of multidimensional measures

The example of the international MPI

• Robustness checks (weights, bootstrapping, household size, indicators)
• Aggregation within households – what biases exist?
• Households without eligible populations – the impact on the measure?
• Comparisons across surveys from different years – sample, respondents
• Thorough investigation into the assets indicator in the living standard dimension
• Indicator scrutiny: Stunting, Quality of Education, etc
• Which are the ideal indicators to use for an international MPI?
• Development of MPI-2 appropriate for countries with higher human development.
• Rural/Urban poverty? Should we adjust urban indicators?
• The impact of overlooked populations: elder poverty

General empirical implementation of the AF method: (example of questions)

• Statistical interrelationships among indicators – Systematic.
• The relationship between income/consumption poverty and deprivations
• Combining individual and household level data
• Investigate the issues of intra household inequalities, household composition, predicting household deprivations on multidimensional measures
• Weights (ordinal ranking)
• Development of group-specific indicators (child, ethnic minority)
• Multiple cut-offs with ordinal data (extreme poverty, poverty)
• Develop multidimensional health indicators, quality of schooling, governance, child poverty, etc.
• Use of biomedical data to set weights – nutrition measure

Research issues: the development of the methodology

• Develop time series and panel data methodologies, expand to include chronic poverty
• Robustness tests (weights, cut-offs, indicators)
• Test statistics, measurement error, uncertainty, inference
• Appropriate validation ‘tests’ for national measures
• Algorithm for adjusting weights for ordinal data and M1 M2
• Complementarity and Substitutability
• Chronic Multidimensional Poverty
• Axioms – for Chronic Multidimensional Poverty
• Characterisation of AF
• Axiom – post-identification decomposability
• Use of ordinal data and the depth of poverty

Video

Guide to the video

00:00 Introduction and outline

Part 1: The Different Debates on the AF Method and its Implementation in the Global MPI

00:49 MPI in the Human Development Report 2010 fostered debate and critique from Ravallion and national governments [see Alkire and Foster (2011)]

 03:05 Ravallion’s critique

03:58 Critique 1: a single index

10:01 Critique 2: why aggregate to later break the index down afterwards

13:37 Critique 3: attainment vs deprivation space

16:21 Critique 4: prices as weights

19:21 Alternative to index suggested: a dash board (see Identification and Aggregation in the Alkire Foster Method)

28:11 Critique 5: data constraints (can this be avoided?)

30:10 General critiques of international data by OPHI and others, OPHI’s response to data issue critique

32:55 Critique 6: lack of policy consultations/participation of the poor

35:09 The discussion and debate on weights

Part 2: Review of Research Issues

38:20 Research issues 1: data constraints, the ideal data, surveys etc.

44:34 Research issues 2: implementation of the Alkire Foster method. The example of the global MPI

57:55 Research issues 3: empirical questions

68:17 Research issues 4: development of methodology

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