Living Standards Measurement Study

Kinnon ScottJune, 2003

DECRG- World Bank

Living Standard Measurement Study

(i) Research program originally Household surveys with community and

price data and facility data Multi-topic- focus on determinants Robust money-metric measure of welfare

(MDG 1)

Living Standard Measurement Study

(ii) Consolidation Variety of contexts, countries

Validation of methodology Analytic techniques

Living Standard Measurement Study

(iii) Decentralization Capacity building Tools Dissemination

LSMS Surveys

Ever more important source of informationPoverty Reduction StrategiesMillennium Development Goals

LSMS: Data for the MDGs

Halve income poverty

Halve hunger

Proportion of population < $1 (PPP) a day

Poverty gap ratio

Share of poorest quintile in national consumption

Prevalence of under-weight children under 5 yrs of age

% of population below minimum dietary energy consumption

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty &hunger

Providing Data for the MDGsi. Eradicate extreme poverty and hungerii. Achieve universal primary educationiii.Promote gender

equalityiv. Reduce child mortalityv. Improve maternal

healthvi. Combat HIV/AIDS,

malariavii.Ensure environmental sustainability

Halve income povertyHalve hunger

Universal primary education

Gender equality in education

2/3 ↓in child mortality3/4 ↓in maternal mortality ratioHalt spread of AIDSHalt incidence of MalariaIntegrate sustainable dev.Halve pop. w/out safe water

New Initiatives for LSMS

Focus on improvements, meeting new needsSeveral projects to do this

Comparative Living Standards Project (CLSP)

Extension of activities to facilitate, increase data use– Document and archive the 60+ LSMS survey

data bases– Improvements in data access

policies/agreements– Provide data and documentation to

researchers (data set, Basic Information Document, Questionnaire, Additional Information)

– All in electronic format (and hardcopy)– In-country activities (collaboration,training)

Two key problems in further dissemination/use of data

1. No easy way to determine the content of all the surveys

CLSP: Meta Data of LSMS Surveys

Create web-based tool containing meta data describing the contents of existing LSMS data sets

• Searchable Data Base– By topic– By country– By year

• Update continually

CLSP--Problem 2:

Many potential users do not have skills to analyze micro-data

Many potential users do not have time to analyze multiple data

basesUnder-utilization of the data

CLSP: Comparative Data Base

Create a database of a subset of variables/indicators from LSMS Surveys

Focus on comparability across countries, documenting carefully

Allow ‘on-the-fly’ tables/statistics/regressions within and

among countriesRespecting sampling (weights,

representat.) Attention to welfare measures

LSMS Surveys: New Initiatives

Public goods nature of dataNew demands

Short- medium term: (i) Expand knowledge (ii) Expand dissemination

LSMS: New Initiatives

(i) Improve Knowledge -test suggested modules -carry out experiments- accuracy,

efficiency, quality -new concepts- feasibility, usefulness - new technologiesAll leading to increased quality of data- for

MDGs, for PRSPs, for sectoral issues

LSMS- New Initiatives

(ii) Expand dissemination -work with other organizations involved

in household surveys -work with statistical agencies to

implement experiments and carry out analysis - conferences on innovations in survey methodology, analysis of micro-data

Partnerships

Data Users and Data ProducersInternational organizations and

national organizationsRegional organizationsNSOs, line ministries, research

groups

Selected BibilographyDeaton, Angus and Salman Zaidi,. 2002. “Guidelines for

Constructing Consumption Aggregates for Welfare Analysis.” LSMS Working Paper No. 135, World Bank, Development Economics Research Group Department, Washington, D.C.

Grosh, Margaret and Paul Glewwe (2000). Designing Household Survey Questionnaires for Developing Countries: Lessons fro 15 years of the Living Standards Measurement Study. World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Martin Ravallion, “Poverty Comparisons: a Guide to Concepts and Methods”, LSMS Working Paper No. 88.

Selected BibilographyGrosh, Margaret and Juan Munoz, “ A Manual for

Planning and Implementing the Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys” LSMS Working Paper, No. 126.

World Bank (2000). “Nicaragua: Ex-Post Impact Evaluation of the Emergency Social Investment Fund (FISE)”, Report No. 20400-NI, Washington D.C.

LSMS Web Site: http:/www.worldbank.org/lsms

Questions or comments? Write us at LSMS@worldbank.org