A Unified Approach to Measuring Poverty and Inequality
Table 3.5: Quantile PCEs and Quantile Ratios of Per Capita Consumption Expenditure Percentile
Region
Quantile ratio
10th (GEL)
20th (GEL)
50th (median, GEL)
80th (GEL)
90th (GEL)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
229.6 230.0 229.8
79.3 81.6 80.5
64.8 66.0 65.3
52.8 55.9 54.4
56.3 58.4 57.3
231.3 229.1 230.5
79.8 82.1 81.0
64.8 66.8 65.8
56.3 54.0 55.2
53.8 61.1 57.6
90-10
80-20
90-50
50-10
2003 1 2 3
Urban Rural Total
47.4 42.2 44.8
64.1 58.8 61.4
108.4 101.5 104.7
182.1 173.1 177.0
4 5 6
Urban Rural Total
46.7 41.0 43.8
61.2 58.5 59.8
101.1 105.3 103.3
174.0 175.9 175.0
2006
Source: Based on ADePT Poverty and Inequality modules using Integrated Household Survey of Georgia 2003 and 2006. Note: PCE = per capita expenditure.
(rows 3 and 6). Per capita consumption expenditure is measured in lari per month. Columns A through E denote quantile PCE for five percentiles. Column A denotes the quantile PCE at the 10th percentile, column B denotes the quantile PCE at the 20th percentile, and so forth. Columns F through I report the quantile ratios based on the quantile PCE reported in the first five columns. Column F, for example, reports the 90/10 ratio, computed as (quantile PCE at the 90th percentile – quantile PCE at the 10th percentile) / quantile PCE at the 90th percentile. The larger the 90/10 ratio, the larger is the gap between these two percentiles. In 2003, the quantile PCE at the 10th percentile of Georgia is GEL 44.8 [3,A], implying that 10 percent of the Georgian population lives with per capita consumption expenditure less than 44.8. Similarly, 20 percent of the Georgian population lives with per capita consumption expenditure less than 61.4 [3,B]. In contrast, 10 percent of the Georgian population lives with per capita expenditure more than GEL 229.8 [3,E], which is the 90th percentile. The corresponding 90/10 quantile ratio using these two quantile PCEs is 80.5 [3,F], which means that the gap between the two percentiles is 80.5 percent of the quantile PCE at the 90th percentile. Stated another way, the quantile PCE at the 90th percentile is 100 / (100 – 80.5) = 5.1 times larger than the 10th percentile. Likewise, the quantile PCE at the 80th percentile of Georgia is GEL 177.0 [3,D], which is nearly three times larger than the quantile PCE at the 20th percentile [3,B]. The corresponding 80/20 measure is 65.3 [3,G]. Inequality between the quantile PCE at
166