Chapter 3: How to Interpret ADePT Results
Lessons for Policy Makers This table helps us understand the robustness of a particular poverty estimate. Selection of any poverty line is debatable, because it is set with normative judgment. If a change in the poverty line causes a drastic change in a poverty measure, then a cautious policy conclusion should be drawn from the analysis based on that particular poverty line. In contrast, if a poverty measure does not vary much because of a change in the poverty line, then a more robust conclusion can be drawn. Other Poverty Measures Table 3.26 analyzes the overall poverty for Georgia and decomposes it across rural and urban areas using three other poverty measures not in the FGT class. The table reports three different sets of poverty measures: the Watts index, Sen-Shorrocks-Thon (SST) index, and Clark-Hemming-Ulph-Chakravarty (CHUC) index (these measures are defined in chapter 2). This is a type of sensitivity analysis, but of the poverty measurement methodology. There are two poverty lines: GEL 75.4 per month and GEL 45.2 per month. Columns A and B report the Watts index for both years. The Watts index is the mean log deviation relative to the poverty line. It is evident from row 1 that the urban Watts index increases from 12.0 in 2003 [1,A] to 12.7 in 2006 [1,B] when the poverty line is GEL 75.4 but falls slightly between the same years when the poverty line is GEL 45.2 [4,A] and [4,B].
Table 3.26: Other Poverty Measures Watts index
Sen-Shorrocks-Thon index
CHUC index
2003
2006
Change
2003
2006
Change
2003
2006
Change
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
A
B
1 2 3
Poverty line = GEL 75.4 Urban Rural Total
12.0 15.6 13.9
12.7 16.2 14.5
0.7 0.5 0.6
15.7 19.2 17.5
16.8 19.6 18.3
1.1 0.4 0.7
16.6 22.2 19.6
16.5 22.8 19.8
0.0 0.6 0.3
4 5 6
Poverty line = GEL 45.2 Urban Rural Total
3.3 5.2 4.3
3.2 5.7 4.5
−0.1 0.5 0.2
4.7 7.0 5.9
4.6 7.6 6.2
0.0 0.6 0.3
5.1 8.5 6.9
4.5 9.0 6.8
−0.6 0.4 −0.1
Source: Based on ADePT Poverty and Inequality modules using Integrated Household Survey of Georgia 2003 and 2006. Note: CHUC = Clark-Hemming-Ulph-Chakravarty.
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