Wealth Indices and Socio-Economic Position Measurement
Author Information
Author(s): Laura D Howe, James R Hargreaves, Sharon RA Huttly
Primary Institution: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Hypothesis
Does the method of constructing wealth indices affect their agreement with consumption expenditure measures?
Conclusion
The study questions the appropriateness of wealth indices as proxies for consumption expenditure, highlighting that the choice of data included has a greater influence on the wealth index than the method used to weight the data.
Supporting Evidence
- All indices demonstrated similarly modest agreement with consumption expenditure.
- Indices using data coded in the same way showed high agreement.
- The choice of data included had a greater influence on the wealth index than the method used to weight the data.
Takeaway
This study looks at how we measure wealth in poor countries and finds that the way we choose to measure it can change the results a lot.
Methodology
Wealth indices were constructed using various weighting methods including PCA, equal weights, and MCA, and compared with per capita consumption expenditure.
Potential Biases
Potential biases in data collection methods and the subjective nature of dichotomizing variables.
Limitations
The study is limited to a single dataset and may not generalize to other contexts.
Participant Demographics
Households from the Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2004–5.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.11
Statistical Significance
p<0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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