Being Poor, Feeling Poorer: Inequality, Poverty and Poverty Perceptions in the Western Balkans
IMF Working Papers, February 19, 2016
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Being Poor, Feeling Poorer: Inequality, Poverty and Poverty Perceptions in the Western Balkans
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Authors: Zsoka Koczan
- Published: February 19, 2016
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475515060.001
Overview and purpose
- Aim: Complement standard macro-level measures of inequality and poverty with a household-level analysis of subjective perceptions of poverty to inform policy.
- Context: Emerging Europe experienced major economic transformation over the past 25 years; most countries had initial output drops during transition followed by recovery in the second half of the 1990s.
- Regional focus: The Western Balkans experienced a particularly uneven transition, with more traumatic and persistent effects and more prevalent nostalgia for the past than in other former communist regions.
- Implication: Widespread dissatisfaction has important implications for the political economy of further reforms.
Key findings
- Subjective vs. objective poverty:
- Many more people appear to feel poor than are classified as poor using purely income-based measures.
- Drivers of perceived poverty:
- Uncertainty, particularly expectations of future income and vulnerability to shocks, is identified as a key driver behind the discrepancy between subjective and income-based poverty measures.
Thematic subjects and keywords
- Subject: Education, Household consumption, Income inequality, National accounts, Personal income, Poverty, Poverty measurement
- Keywords: capital expenditure, center, Central and Eastern Europe, Europe, farm income, household expenditure, Income inequality, Inequality, Personal income, Poverty, poverty gap, poverty in the Western Balkans, poverty indicator, poverty measure, Poverty measurement, poverty perception, Subjective poverty measures, Western Balkans, WP
Policy relevance and implications
- Policy should account for subjective poverty measures alongside income-based metrics because:
- Perceptions of poverty exceed measured poverty, potentially affecting social cohesion and support for reforms.
- Addressing uncertainty about future income and vulnerability to shocks may reduce subjective poverty and improve reform acceptability.
IMF Working Paper — Being Poor, Feeling Poorer: Inequality, Poverty and Poverty Perceptions in the Western Balkans (Zsoka Koczan, February 19, 2016).