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dc.contributor.authorBIRDSALL, Nancy
dc.contributor.authorMEYER, Christian J.
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-03T13:45:57Z
dc.date.available2015-11-03T13:45:57Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.identifier.citationGlobal policy, 2015, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 343–357en
dc.identifier.issn1758-5880
dc.identifier.issn1758-5899
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/37560
dc.descriptionArticle first published online: 14 JUL 2015en
dc.descriptionThis is a revised version of CGD WP 2014/351.
dc.description.abstractWe argue that survey-based median household consumption expenditure (or income) per capita be incorporated into standard development indicators, as a simple, robust and durable indicator of typical individual material wellbeing in a country. Using household survey data available for low and middle-income countries from the World Bank's PovcalNet tool, we show that as a measure of income-related wellbeing, it is far superior to the commonly used GDP per capita as well as survey-based measures at the mean. We also argue that survey-based median measures are ‘distribution-aware’, i.e. when used as the denominator of various widely available indicators such as mean consumption expenditure per capita they provide a ‘good enough’ indicator of consumption (or income) inequality. Finally, as a post-2015 indicator of progress at the country-level in promoting shared development and reducing inequality, we propose that the rate of increase in median consumption per capita after taxes and transfers exceeds the rate of increase in average consumption in the same period.en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.relation.ispartofGlobal policyen
dc.relation.isversionofhttp://www.cgdev.org/publication/median-message-good-enough-measure-material-well-being-and-shared-development-progress
dc.titleThe median is the message : a good enough measure of material wellbeing and shared development progressen
dc.typeArticleen
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/1758-5899.12239
dc.identifier.volume6
dc.identifier.startpage343
dc.identifier.endpage357
dc.identifier.issue4


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