Magister Commercii - MCom / With the transition to a democratic society, one of the challenges to emerge was to provide economic freedoms for all – that is, freedom from isolation, freedom from powerlessness, freedom from hunger, and freedom from poverty. Fighting poverty has always been high on the agenda of the democratic government since the transition. Numerous measures and policies were instituted aimed at reducing poverty. Researchers initiated serious efforts to try and understand the nature and extent of poverty, through various studies being conducted. Many of these studies focused only on money-metric measures, despite the fact that poverty is a multidimensional concept. What has resulted are various poverty-measurement methods producing different results on the extent of poverty. In addition, certain aspects of these money-metric approaches have serious shortcomings. The fuzzy sets approach addresses many of these shortcomings, as it is a multidimensional approach. Few studies have used this approach to measure poverty in South Africa. This thesis plans to use this method to analyse poverty levels and trends in South Africa, focusing on multidimensional, non-money-metric poverty. Data from Census 1996, Census 2001 and Community Survey 2007 will be used for the study. From the results of the analysis it was established that there is some divergence in the findings of money-metric approaches and those of fuzzy sets. A key result to emerge is the difference in poverty trends over the period 1996 – 2007. Most studies reviewed in Chapter Three that used the money-metric approach showed that poverty trends were upward in the 1990s, before a downward trend took place in the 2000s. This took place irrespective of the survey data used. The non-money-metric poverty trends derived in this chapter, however, show a continuous downward trend over the period. The overall mean deprivation in South Africa has declined since 1996. For people residing in provinces such as Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, they are more likely to be poor under the fuzzy sets approach. This may be an indication of inadequate service delivery and the extent to which recent government measures to address poverty have been successful or not. In terms of race, blacks still have the highest mean deprivation, but enjoyed the biggest decline of mean deprivation between 1996 and 2007. Finally, mean deprivation for female-headed households in South Africa was also higher than for male-headed households over the period.

The thesis seeks to understand the differences between the indigenous and the non-indigenous populations in Mexico in terms of poverty and to analyse what explains these differences. The thesis departs from the official multidimensional poverty measure that has been adopted in Mexico. The thesis distinguishes from the official results in at least four areas: 1) the main poverty indicator and how it is estimated; 2) a deeper understanding of the indigenous and non-indigenous; 3) the analysis of robustness and redundancy across dimensions and; 4) the use of standard errors to compare groups and across time. This dissertation then focuses on remoteness, since a high percentage of the indigenous population live in small isolated rural communities, and there is a relationship between the locality size and the standard of living. In order to quantify the remoteness, and to be able to compare indigenous and non-indigenous populations, a measure of remoteness is proposed. Then also explores how different the social mobility for the indigenous is, compared to non-indigenous. While there are studies that allow comparisons of indigenous and non-indigenous in relation to social mobility, this thesis suggests a measure of absolute social mobility that uses the framework of the Alkire-Foster methodology for multidimensional poverty. Finally, this thesis explores the role of ethnic discrimination using the Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions. Also, an innovative method to study discrimination is also presented, based on the propensity score match techniques. At the end, this dissertation argues there is a vicious cycle of indigenous poverty in Mexico. In a nutshell, the fact that the indigenous are poorer means they rely more on state intervention while being discriminated against in the labour markets. Discrimination is an incentive to remain geographically isolated and lowers their intergenerational social mobility. As a result, the indigenous live in remote rural localities, where harder and more expensive for the state to reach. Thus, the indigenous have less access to state support. The thesis follows a mixed-methods approach, that combines quantitative analysis based on information at national level with analysis of data collected during fieldwork in 2011.

This study examines the poverty focus of Swedish bilateral aid and if a multidimensional poverty measure has an effect on the selection of Swedish strategy countries within Sida’s bilateral aid program. Sweden, while generally seen as an altruistic donor, has been noted to allocate resources to relatively richer countries as a result of its wider aim with ODA such as democratic progress and human rights protection. To analyze the relationship between Swedish bilateral aid and poverty, we use concentration curves and a logistic regression for the year of 2016 for Sweden’s strategy countries. The regressions are performed using two measures of poverty, the Multidimensional Poverty Index and extreme monetary poverty (1.9$/day), controlling for institutional and strategic factors. The results for Sweden’s bilateral aid program show a slight poverty focus in terms of multidimensional poverty, as well as tendencies to focus on consistency, geopolitics and comparative advantages. There is no significant relationship between strategy countries and degree of monetary poverty. The results are largely aligned with Swedish policy objectives.

La presente investigación aporta a la literatura económica un enfoque dinámico sobre la vulnerabilidad a la pobreza multidimensional, siendo el primer estudio acerca de este tema que se apoya en técnicas de data panel. Asimismo, la importancia de este análisis radica en la utilización de la pobreza multidimensional como medida de bienestar de los hogares, debido a que, medir la pobreza desde esta perspectiva permite tener el panorama completo de las diferentes carencias que afrontan los pobres al mismo tiempo. En cuanto a la vulnerabilidad, siguiendo el modelo propuesto por Dang y Lanjouw (2014), se estima la probabilidad que tienen los hogares de entrar en una situación de pobreza, y en base a ello, se construye una Línea de Vulnerabilidad que permite identificar a la población vulnerable. Otro aporte importante, es que este enfoque de vulnerabilidad no considera a los hogares pobres que tienen una alta probabilidad de seguir siendo pobres, identificando los determinantes de la entrada a la pobreza. Del estudio realizado a los hogares peruanos durante el período 2015-2018, se concluye que, la pobreza multidimensional abarca al 25% de los hogares frente al 20% que identifica la medida de pobreza tradicional; y que, los hogares vulnerables representan el 28% de los hogares no pobres. Este último porcentaje aumenta con factores como la dependencia económica, hacinamiento de la vivienda y desastres naturales; mientras que, se reduce cuando el jefe del hogar pertenece al sector económico formal, tiene una cuenta financiera y se encuentra afiliado a un sistema de pensiones. / This research contributes to the economic literature of a dynamic approach on vulnerability to multidimensional poverty, being the first study on this topic that is supported on data panel techniques. Furthermore, the importance of this paper is based on the analysis of multidimensional poverty as a measure of household well-being, because measuring poverty from this perspective allows us to have a complete overview of poor’s needs on each dimension that is define. Regarding vulnerability, following the model proposed by Dang and Lanjouw (2014), the probability that households have of entering a situation of poverty is estimated and based on this, builds a Vulnerability Line to identify the vulnerable population. Another important input is that this approach doesn’t consider poverty households who has a high estimate of still being poor, by identifying the determinants of the entry to poverty. From the study carried out on Peruvian households during the 2015-2018 period, it is concluded that multidimensional poverty covers 25% of households compared to 20% that identifies the traditional poverty measure; and that vulnerable households represent 28% of non-poor households. This last percentage increases with factors such as economic dependence, overcrowding of housing and natural disasters; while, it is reduced when the head of the household belongs to the formal economic sector, has a financial account and is affiliated with a pension system. / Trabajo de investigación

Ce travail analyse sous différentes approches la pauvreté au Sénégal en s’appuyant notamment sur les données fournies par les deux dernières enquêtes auprès des ménages (ESAM 2-2002 et ESPS-2006) réalisées par l’Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de la Démographie en partenariat avec la Banque mondiale.Dans l’analyse de la pauvreté monétaire, nous faisons apparaître des différences importantes en termes de seuils de pauvreté dans les régions avec aux extrêmes la région Dakar 923,55 F CFA (1,40 €) et Tambacounda 515,70 F CFA (0,78€), ce qui suggère le peu de pertinence quant à l’utilisation d’un seuil établi au seul niveau national. Sur la base de ces seuils, les indices de pauvreté issus de la formule générique de Foster, Greer et Thorbecke (FGT) dévoilent une baisse du taux de pauvreté entre 2002 et 2006 de 57,1% à 50,8%, soit de 6,9 point dans l’ensemble du pays et un écart à la ligne de pauvreté passant de 18% à 16,4%. Cette baisse est particulièrement observée dans les régions de Dakar, Diourbel, Kaolack, Saint-Louis et Thiès. Au niveau départemental, les taux de pauvreté montrent une concentration importante dans les zones rurales et l’existence de poches de pauvreté enclavées dans les zones urbaines. L’estimation d’un modèle économétrique spatial met en évidence les facteurs socioéconomiques susceptibles d’expliquer les différences interdépartementales de taux de pauvreté constatées en 2006, notamment le degré de développement économique des territoires (urbanisation, emploi) ainsi que les comportements des ménages liés au niveau d’infrastructures (d’éducation, de santé et de fécondité).Par ailleurs, nous proposons un modèle dichotomique à partir duquel il est possible de mettre en évidence les déterminants de la pauvreté monétaire des chefs de ménage. Les résultats montrent que les femmes chefs de ménage ne sont pas la couche la plus pauvre. De manière générale, les disparités de pauvreté manifestes entre milieux urbain et rural sont largement corrélées à des handicapes en matière de d’éducation et à l’inégal accès aux moyens d’information et de communication.Nous abordons une analyse multidimensionnelle de la pauvreté au Sénégal, à travers une estimation des degrés de privation de certains besoins essentiels des ménages. L’approche par la théorie des ensembles flous utilisée à cet effet suggère que la pauvreté a faiblement diminué : 1 % contre 7 % pour la pauvreté monétaire. Contrairement à l’approche monétaire, la baisse de la pauvreté non monétaire observée concerne d’autres régions comme Kolda et Ziguinchor et les régions de Diourbel et Kaolack connaissent une hausse. L’estimation des indices flous unidimensionnels a permis d’identifier les domaines dans lesquels les ménages affichent le degré de privation le plus important : la qualité du logement, le niveau d'instruction et les moyens d’information et de communication, au-delà du revenu.Les profils de pauvreté monétaire aussi bien que multidimensionnelle sont d’excellents outils pour cibler les groupes les plus nécessiteux de la population. En revanche, ces outils restent muets sur la perception de ces pauvres quant à leur propre situation socioéconomique. En ce sens, une analyse économétrique des facteurs déterminants de la pauvreté ressentie au Sénégal en 2006 fait apparaître l’importance de certaines dimensions non économiques (exclusion sociale, culturelle et manque de concertation des intéressés sur les politiques de développement et de lutte cotre la pauvreté). / This paper analyzes different approaches in poverty in Senegal, relying in particular on data provided by the last two household surveys (ESPS-2-2002 and ESAM 2006) conducted by the National Agency of Statistics and Demography in partnership with the World Bank.In the analysis of monetary poverty, we reveal important differences in terms of poverty lines in regions with at extremes, Dakar 923,55 F CFA (1,40 €) and Tambacounda 515,70 FCFA (0,78€), suggesting little relevance to the use of a threshold at national level alone. On basis of these thresholds, the indices of poverty stemming from the Foster's generic formula, to Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) reveal a reduction in the rate of poverty between 2002 and 2006 from the 57.1 % to 50.8 %, that is 6.9 in the whole of country and a gap in the poverty's line passing from 18 % to 16,4 %. This decline is particularly observed in the regions of Dakar, Diourbel, Kaolack, Saint-Louis and Thies. At the departmental level, poverty rates show a significant concentration in rural areas and the existence of pockets of poverty enclaved in urban areas. The estimation of a spatial econometric model highlights the socioeconomic factors that may explain the interdepartmental differences in poverty rates observed in 2006, including the level of regional economic development (urbanization, employment) and household behavior related at infrastructure (education, health and fertility). Furthermore, we propose a dichotomous model from which it is possible to identify the determinants of income poverty of household heads. The results show that female-headed households are not the poorest layer. In general way, differences of poverty apparent between urban and rural areas are largely correlated with disabilities in terms of education and unequal access to information and communication resources.We are entering a multidimensional analysis of poverty in Senegal, through an estimate of the degree of deprivation of some basic household needs. The approach by the theory of fuzzy sets used for this purpose shows that poverty declined slightly: 1% against 7% for monetary poverty. Unlike the monetary approach, the observed decrease from non-monetary poverty affects other regions as Kolda and Ziguinchor and Kaolack and Diourbel saw an increase. The estimation of one-dimensional fuzzy indexes allowed identifying the domains in which the households post the degree of largest deprivation: the quality of housing, education and information and communication technologies, beyond income.The profiles of monetary poverty as well as multidimensional are excellent tools to target the most destitute groups of the population. However, these tools remain dumb on the perception of these poor people as for their own socioeconomic situation. In this sense, an econometric analysis of the determinants of poverty felt in Senegal in 2006 brings up the importance of certain non-economic dimensions (social exclusion, cultural and lack of consultation of stakeholders on policy development and cutter fight poverty).

Cette thèse se propose d’analyser l’évolution de la pauvreté et d’identifier les groupes socio-économiques ainsi que les dimensions qui contribuent le plus à l’évolution de la pauvreté en Tunisie en nous appuyant sur une approche monétaire et une approche multidimensionnelle. Pour cela, nous adoptons une méthodologie qui consiste à utiliser l’approche de dominance stochastique et la théorie des ensembles flous, c’est-à-dire des méthodes différentes de celles adoptées dans les études antérieures qui s’intéressent à la Tunisie. Trois principales conclusions ressortent de l’exploitation des données issues de deux enquêtes nationales sur le budget et la consommation des ménages 2005, 2010 et d’une enquête nationale sur la santé de la famille 2006. La première révèle une diminution de la pauvreté au niveau national bien que de fortes disparités persistent encore entre le milieu rural et le milieu urbain, et entre les régions du littoral et les régions de l’intérieur. La deuxième met en évidence les effets des politiques de redistribution en Tunisie qui n’ont pas permis d’accélérer le rythme de réduction de la pauvreté. La troisième suggère que la prise en compte de l’aspect multidimensionnel de la pauvreté révèle l’existence d’autres dimensions importantes en relation avec la pauvreté et qui constituent un obstacle à une vie décente pour les ménages tunisiens. / The aim of this thesis is to analyze the evolution of poverty and identify the socio-economical groups as well as the dimensions that contribute to it in Tunisia following a monetary approach and also a multi-dimensional one. For this reason, I adopt a method which consists in using the approach of stochastic dominance and the theory of fuzzy sets. That is to say, I adopt some of the different methods which have been adopted in the previous studies that were interested in Tunisia. Three main conclusions emerge from the exploitation of data based on two national surveys of the budget and the consumption of households 2005, 2010 and another national survey of the family health 2006. In fact, the first one reveals the decrease of poverty at the national level despite that there are disparities that still persist between rural and urban areas and between the coastal regions and the regions of the interior as well. The second survey puts in evidence that the effects of redistributive policies in Tunisia have not accelerated the pace of poverty reduction. As for the third survey, it suggests that taking into account the multi-dimensional aspect of poverty reveals the existence of other important dimensions in relationship with poverty that constitute an obstacle to a decent life for the Tunisian households.

A multidimensional poverty index for the United States is designed, evaluated, and defended as a useful measurement tool for policymakers to evaluate poverty. Chapter 1 presents a normative case for the index. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on poverty measures. Chapter 3 constructs the proposed index. Chapter 4 is a statistical examination of the internal structure of the index. Chapter 5 explores the index across states, over time, and among population subgroups, as well as presenting policy applications.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de NÃvel Superior / Essa dissertaÃÃo à composta por dois artigos, dos quais foi feito o uso de dados e metodologias distintas. O primeiro, intitulado âExiste relaÃÃo entre os fatores socioeconÃmicos e a taxa de homicÃdios no Brasil?â, tem como objeto de estudo analisar se existe relaÃÃo entre os fatores socioeconÃmicos e a taxa de homicÃdios no Brasil, no perÃodo compreendido entre 2004 e 2011. Foram utilizados dados da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de DomicÃlios - PNADs - do Instituto de Pesquisa EconÃmica Aplicada - IPEA - e do MinistÃrio da SaÃde. Enquanto procedimento metodolÃgico fez uso de dados em painel com as estimaÃÃes pelos MÃnimos Quadrados Generalizados (GLS), proposto por Greene (2003). Os resultados indicaram que, no Brasil, os fatores socioeconÃmicos fazem parte dos principais condicionantes das elevadas taxas de criminalidade registradas nos anos em observaÃÃo. A urbanizaÃÃo pode estar contribuindo para expansÃo dos homicÃdios, o que demanda maiores investimentos em seguranÃa pÃblica. Demonstrou, ainda, a importÃncia da educaÃÃo como ferramenta no combate e prevenÃÃo ao crime e revelou que o nÃvel de pobreza nem sempre se traduz em mais criminalidade, mas eleva a probabilidade de que indivÃduos privados de renda venham a cometer crimes. AlÃm disso, mostrou que o nÃvel de renda tem um contributo maior para tal realidade devido à utilidade esperada na execuÃÃo de crimes. O segundo artigo, intitulado âA pobreza multidimensional na ParaÃba via abordagem das necessidades bÃsicas e das capacitaÃÃesâ, foi feito com base em dados anuais da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de DomicÃlios (PNAD) de 2006 a 2013 e mensurou as dimensÃes da pobreza no estado, por meio da construÃÃo de indicador global e individual das dimensÃes. Para tanto, fez uso da metodologia de Bourguignon e Chakravarty (2003), a qual apresenta uma forma alternativa de medir a multidimensionalidade da pobreza. Os principais resultados sinalizaram que a populaÃÃo paraibana sofre de privaÃÃes, principalmente nos funcionamentos, como o acesso ao ensino primÃrio, fundamental e mÃdio; aos serviÃos de acesso à comunicaÃÃo e informaÃÃo, as condiÃÃes de moradia, saÃde e trabalho. Verificou-se tambÃm uma reduÃÃo das privaÃÃes nas seis dimensÃes, bem como da proporÃÃo de pobres multidimensionais da populaÃÃo, de 27,78%, em 2006, para 22,49%, em 2013. Jà em relaÃÃo Ãs anÃlises isoladas das Ãreas urbanas e rurais, constatou-se que a pobreza foi mais intensa no meio rural. / This dissertation consists of two articles, which was made using data and different methodologies. The first, entitled "Is there a relationship between socioeconomic factors and the homicide rate in Brazil?", Has the object of study to examine whether there is a relationship between socioeconomic factors and the homicide rate in Brazil, in the period between 2004 and 2011. We used data from the National Survey by Household Sample Survey - PNAD - the Institute of Applied Economic Research - IPEA -. and the Ministry of Health While methodological procedure made use of panel data with the estimates by Generalized Least Squares (GLS), proposed by Greene (2003). The results indicated that in Brazil, socioeconomic factors are among the main determinants of high crime rates recorded in the years under observation. The urbanization may be contributing to expansion of homicides, which demand greater investment in public safety. It has also shown the importance of education as a tool in combating and preventing crime and revealed that the poverty level does not always translate into more crime, but increases the likelihood that private individuals income will commit crimes. Moreover, it showed that the level of income has a greater contribution to such a reality due to the expected utility in the execution of crimes. The second article, entitled "The multidimensional poverty in ParaÃba via basic needs approach and capabilities," was based on annual data from the National Sample Survey (PNAD) from 2006 to 2013 and measured the dimensions of poverty in the state , by constructing the global indicator and individual dimensions. For this purpose, we made use of Bourguignon methodology and Chakravarty (2003), which presents an alternative way of measuring the multidimensionality of poverty. The main results signaled that paraibana population suffers deprivation, particularly in runs, such as access to primary education, primary and secondary; services access to communication and information, housing conditions, health and work. There was also a reduction of deprivation in six dimensions, as well as the proportion of multidimensional poor population of 27.78% in 2006 to 22.49% in 2013. In relation to the isolated analysis of urban areas and rural, it was found that poverty was more intense in rural areas.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a pobreza considerando caracterÃsticas econÃmicas, de capital humano, de infraestrutura e meio ambiente no estado do Cearà sob uma Ãtica multidimensional. Para tal finalidade, calculou-se o Ãndice de Pobreza Multidimensional (IPM) para os 184 municÃpios a partir de dados secundÃrios obtidos no IPECE, IBGE e PNUD, considerando os anos de 2000 e 2010. O Ãndice calculado foi composto por indicadores divididos em quatro funcionamentos: capital humano, economia, infraestrutura e ambiente. ApÃs a formulaÃÃo do IPM, os municÃpios foram agrupados em trÃs clusters: a primeira abrangeu os municÃpios em melhor situaÃÃo (IPM variando entre 0,00 e 47,00); a segunda envolveu aqueles valores de IPM intermediÃrio (IPM variando entre 47,01 a 69,19); e a terceira agrupou os municÃpios com os piores valores do Ãndice (IPM variando entre 69,20 e 100,00). Na anÃlise dos resultados, pode-se observar que o IPM para o Estado decresceu ao longo dos anos estudados, porÃm o funcionamento ambiental foi o que menos contribuiu para a melhoria do Ãndice. Este fato deve-se, principalmente, aos indicadores de Ãndice de DistribuiÃÃo de Chuvas (IDC) e escoamento superficial. Isso demonstra que a escassez de chuva sempre foi e continua sendo um agravante da pobreza. Com isso, pode-se concluir que, para que ocorram melhorias efetivas e duradouras no Ãndice de pobreza do CearÃ, à necessÃrio que haja uma ampliaÃÃo das polÃticas de convivÃncia com a seca, ao invÃs das polÃticas de cunho assistencialista e imediatistas que sÃo ainda mais preponderantes no estado. / This work aimed to analyze poverty considering economic features, human capital, infrastructure and the environment in the state of Cearà in a multidimensional optical. For this purpose, was calculated the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for 184 municipalities from secondary data obtained in IPECE, IBGE and UNDP, considering the years of 2000 and 2010. The calculated index was composed of indicators divided into four functionings: human capital, economic, infrastructure and environment. After formulation of MPI, municipalities were grouped into three clusters: the first included municipalities with better situation (IPM ranging between 0,00 and 47,00); the second involved those intermediate values of IPM (IPM ranging from 47,01 to 69,19); and the third grouped the municipalities with the worst index values (IPM ranging between 69,20 and 100,00). In analysis of the results, it can be observed that the IPM to the state decreased over years studied, but the environmental functioning was that less contributed to the improvement of the index. This fact is mainly due to the indicators of Rainfall Distribution Index (RDI) and surface runoff. This demonstrates that the scarcity of rain has always been and continues to be an aggravating poverty. With this it can be concluded that, to occur effective and durable improvements in the poverty index of Cearà is necessary expand of policies of dealing with drought, instead of assistantial policies and short-term nature that are even more preponderant in the State.

nÃo hà / A presente dissertaÃÃo tem como propÃsito apresentar novas perspectivas para a compreensÃo da pobreza multidimensional no Cearà urbano do Brasil nos anos de 2006 a 2013. Foi utilizada uma metodologia construÃda por Bourguignon e Chakravarty (2003), na qual apresenta uma nova forma diferenciada de mensurar a multidimensionalidade da pobreza. Com dados retirados da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de DomicÃlio (PNAD). Os resultados das seis dimensÃes analisadas revelaram uma reduÃÃo de 26,31% em 2006, para 21,71% em 2013, da pobreza multidimensional, em que esta apresentou uma trajetÃria decrescente durante o perÃodo de estudo. Pode-se inferir que para reduzir a pobreza multidimensional da populaÃÃo urbana cearense, à necessÃrio adotar polÃticas pÃblicas direcionadas especificamente para as dimensÃes que mais impactam a pobreza, sendo elas: educaÃÃo, trabalho e demografia, comunicaÃÃo e informaÃÃo, e saÃde. / This paper aims to present new perspectives for the understanding of multidimensional poverty in Cearà urban in the years 2006 to 2013 built by Bourguignon and Chakravarty (2003), which has been used a new alternative way to measure the multidimensionality of poverty. With data from the National Survey by Household Sampling (PNAD). The results of the six dimensions reduction in the proportion of multidimensional poor the Cearà urban population analyzed revealed a reduction of 26.31% in 2006 to 21.71% in 2013, the multidimensional poverty, as that presented a downward trend during the study period. It can be inferred that to reduce the multidimensional poverty Cearà urban population, one must adopt public policies aimed specifically at the dimensions that most impact poverty, namely: education, work and demographics, communication and information, and health.