A proposal for the content of the chapter "poverty measures" in a master's subject in economy and development

Abstract

The objective of this work is teaching. We ask ourselves, what should students be taught about statistical measures of poverty? In a master's course, Measures of Inequality and Poverty, given at the University of Seville, Spain, a chapter dedicated to Measures of Poverty is included. In this work we want to provide this chapter with content. We include the different conceptions of this phenomenon together with the most commonly used measures or indicators. Objective and subjective poverty (with the measures of Kaptein or Leiden), absolute and relative, one-dimensional or multidimensional, are ideas that are shelled in the development of this work. We also include a set of possible axioms or properties required for a good indicator of poverty.