Abstract
This chapter estimates the extent and trend of poverty in Romania during transition, using grouped distributional data and Lorenz curve interpolation. It asks the question: do estimates derived from grouped distributional data differ from those in the literature derived from survey data? It finds that the poverty estimates introduced in this chapter are only broadly in line with the literature for the period 2002–2005 and document a substantial decline in poverty. The estimates for the late 1990s suggest that poverty in Romania fluctuated considerably during this period, which reflects the trend estimated in part of the literature. However, there are significant differences in the size of the estimated measures. This is also the case between estimates found in the literature derived from survey data. The chapter concludes by discussing the broader implications of using grouped distributional data and Lorenz curve interpolation in poverty research in Romania and elsewhere.
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Notes
- 1.
The Family Budget Survey (FBS), in Romanian Ancheta bugetelor de familie, implemented during 1989–1993, was not nationally representative and suffered from major sampling errors. The survey was based on a sample population of whom 71% resided in wage-earning households while the 1992 census showed that only 59% of individuals resided in such households (World Bank, 1997, Volume 2, Annex 1, p. 6).
- 2.
The Romanian Integrated Household Survey (RIHS) or in Romanian Ancheta integrată în gospodării (AIG) was a nationally representative household survey implemented in Romania since March 1994.
- 3.
The choice between income or consumption is irrelevant in this case because the grouped distributional data in the Romanian statistical yearbooks are identical for each of the ten deciles and are designed to reflect at the same time both income and consumption.
- 4.
More information about POVCAL, including a detailed tutorial, is available at (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).
- 5.
In addition to these five poverty lines, we used the extreme $1.08/day poverty line, typical in international measurements of poverty in developing countries.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge the invaluable support of Monica Silaghi and Camelia Minoiu during the writing of the thesis on which this contribution is based. Recently, Camelia Minoiu, Christopher Pollitt, and Greg Porumbescu reviewed an earlier draft and provided a number of helpful comments.
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Dan, S. (2018). Improving Socioeconomic Opportunities for the Poor: A Study of Poverty Measurement in Romania. In: Văduva, S., Fotea, I., Thomas, A. (eds) Solutions for Business, Culture and Religion in Eastern Europe and Beyond. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63369-5_1
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