Paper short abstract:

The paper investigates multidimensional poverty changes, using the Alkire-Foster framework, in 34 countries and 338 sub-national regions, covering 2.5 billion people. Analysis shows differences between changes in multidimensional and income poverty, and diversity of situations within countries.

Paper long abstract:

This paper sets out a systemic account of multidimensional poverty dynamic using the Alkire-Foster Adjusted Headcount Ratio and its consistent sub-indices. It also scrutinizes three approaches to assessing the pro-poorness of multidimensional poverty reduction. These techniques were then applied to the analysis of changes in multidimensional poverty based on the Global MPI and related destitution measure. The analysis focused on 34 countries and 338 sub-national regions, covering 2.5 billion people, for which there is a recent MPI estimation and comparable Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) dataset for analysis across time. First, it assesses overall changes in poverty and its incidence and intensity, and compares this with changes in $1.25 poverty. Next, utilizing the property of subgroup decomposability, it examines changes in the MPI and its consistent sub-indices over time across urban-rural regions, sub-national regions and ethnic groups. The decomposition analysis identified relevant national patterns, including those in which the pace of poverty reduction is higher for the poorest subgroups. Finally, the paper analyses the dynamics of a strict subset of the poor, who are identified as 'destitute' using a more extreme deprivation cutoff vector, and studies relative rates of reduction of destitution and poverty by country and region. In the course of this extensive empirical analysis, some further research questions emerge.