cover image: Mind the Gap : Disparities in Assessments of Living Standards Using National Accounts and Household Surveys

20.500.12592/hxqtn4

Mind the Gap : Disparities in Assessments of Living Standards Using National Accounts and Household Surveys

1 Sep 2021

Estimates of average per capita consumption and income from national accounts differ substantially from corresponding measures of consumption and income from household surveys. Using a new compilation of more than 2,000 household surveys matched to national accounts data, this study finds that the gaps between the data sources are larger and more robust than previously established. Means of household consumption estimated from surveys are, on average, 20 percent lower than corresponding means from national accounts. The gap with gross domestic product per capita is nearly 50 percent. The gaps have increased in recent decades and are largest in middle-income countries, where annualized growth rates for consumption surveys are systematically lower than national accounts growth rates. The paper shows that the gaps in measures across these two sources have implications for assessments of economic growth, poverty, and inequality. The study finds that typical survey measures of consumption and income may exaggerate poverty reduction and underestimate inequality.
household income household survey inequality national accounts household expenditure poverty reduction :: inequality poverty reduction :: poverty monitoring & analysis poverty reduction :: living standards

Authors

Prydz, Espen Beer, Jolliffe, Dean, Serajuddin, Umar

Collection(s)
Policy Research Working Papers
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-9779
Googlescholar linkpresent
yes
Identifier externaldocumentum
090224b0889cf91d_1_0
Identifier internaldocumentum
33434375
Published in
United States of America
RelationisPartofseries
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9779
Report
WPS9779
Rights
CC BY 3.0 IGO
Rights Holder
World Bank
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
UNIT
Development Data Group, Development Economics
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36306
citation
“Prydz, Espen Beer; Jolliffe, Dean; Serajuddin, Umar. 2021. Mind the Gap : Disparities in Assessments of Living Standards Using National Accounts and Household Surveys . Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9779. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36306 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
date disclosure
2021-09-22

Files

Related Topics

All