Robust estimates of changes in poverty and inequality in post-independence Namibia

Arbeitspapier

The authors estimate changes in the distribution of household consumption expenditure in Namibia since Independence in 1990 and the effects on poverty. To produce comparability between two household surveys, they use survey matching techniques and apply the framework of stochastic dominance to test the robustness of the results. The results reveal a significant decrease in the poverty headcount over the period and small but insignificant decreases in the country's extremely high levels of inequality. Decomposition analysis shows that poverty reduction in Namibia is largely driven by growth in mean incomes rather than redistribution. Even so, there have been important changes in inequality, especially between different social groups, as educational attainment has replaced ethnicity as the main determinant of inequality between groups.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Paper ; No. 102

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions ; Measurement and Analysis of Poverty ; Economywide Country Studies: Africa
• Subject: Sub-Saharan Africa ; Namibia ; poverty ; inequality ; Armut ; Verbraucherausgaben ; Einkommensverteilung ; Dekompositionsverfahren ; Namibia

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Levine, Sebastian ; Roberts, Benjamin
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG)
• (where): Brasilia
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/71788
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET