Living Standards Measurement Study

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Living Standards Measurement Study

• Kinnon Scott
• June, 2003
• DECRG- World Bank

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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)

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Living Standard Measurement Study

• (ii) Consolidation
• Variety of contexts, countries
• Validation of methodology
• Analytic techniques

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Living Standard Measurement Study

• (iii) Decentralization
• Capacity building
• Tools
• Dissemination

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LSMS Surveys

• Ever more important source of information
• Poverty Reduction Strategies
• Millennium Development Goals

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LSMS Data for the MDGs
MDG 1 Eradicate extreme poverty hunger
Proportion of population lt 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

• Halve income poverty
• Halve hunger

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Providing Data for the MDGs

• i. Eradicate extreme
• poverty and hunger
• ii. Achieve universal
• primary education
• Promote gender equality
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria
• Ensure environmental
• sustainability

• Halve income poverty
• Halve hunger
• Universal primary education
• Gender equality in education
• 2/3 ?in child mortality
• 3/4 ?in maternal mortality ratio
• Halt spread of AIDS
• Halt incidence of Malaria
• Integrate sustainable dev.
• Halve pop. w/out safe water

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New Initiatives for LSMS

• Focus on improvements, meeting new needs
• Several projects to do this

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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)

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Two key problems in further dissemination/use of
data

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

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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

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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 bases
• Under-utilization of the data

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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 countries
• Respecting sampling (weights, representat.)
• Attention to welfare measures

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LSMS Surveys New Initiatives

• Public goods nature of data
• New demands
• Short- medium term
• (i) Expand knowledge
• (ii) Expand dissemination

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LSMS New Initiatives

• (i) Improve Knowledge
• -test suggested modules
• -carry out experiments- accuracy,
  efficiency,
• quality
• -new concepts- feasibility, usefulness
• - new technologies
• All leading to increased quality of data- for
  MDGs, for PRSPs, for sectoral issues

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LSMS- New Initiatives

• 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

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Partnerships

• Data Users and Data Producers
• International organizations and national
  organizations
• Regional organizations
• NSOs, line ministries, research groups

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Selected Bibilography

• Deaton, 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.

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Selected Bibilography

• Grosh, 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_at_worldbank.org