Azerbaijan’s Household Survey Data : Explaining Why Inequality is So Low

Azerbaijan’s Household Survey Data : Explaining Why Inequality is So Low

While the Azerbaijan household income and expenditure survey (HIES) data satisfy most empirical regularities expected in a typical household survey data, the inequality measures based on the data are unusually low. For example, for the latest three years for which we have data (2002 - 2004), the con...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ersado, Lire
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:
AGGREGATE DATA
CASH TRANSFERS
CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE
CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES
DATA COLLECTION
DATA QUALITY
DEVELOPING WORLD
EARNINGS INEQUALITY
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIC INEQUALITY
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
EMPIRICAL REGULARITIES
EQUALIZING EFFECT
EXPENDITURE
FOOD CONSUMPTION
GDP
GINI COEFFICIENT
GROWTH RATE
HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION
HOUSEHOLD DATA
HOUSEHOLD HEADS
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA
HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS
HUMAN CAPITAL
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
INCOME GROUPS
INCOME INEQUALITY
INCOME ON FOOD
INCOMES
INEQUALITY
INEQUALITY ESTIMATES
INEQUALITY INDICES
INEQUALITY MEASURES
LOW INCOME
MACROECONOMIC STABILITY
MEAN CONSUMPTION
MEASURING POVERTY
NATIONAL INCOME
0 HYPOTHESIS
OPPORTUNITY COST
PENSION INCOME
PENSIONS
PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION
PER CAPITA INCOME
POLICY RESEARCH
POOR
POOR HOUSEHOLDS
POSITIVE CORRELATION
POVERTY ANALYSIS
POVERTY ASSESSMENT
POVERTY GAP
POVERTY MEASURES
POVERTY PROFILE
POVERTY RATES
POVERTY SEVERITY
PRIMARY SAMPLING UNITS
PRIVATE TRANSFERS
PSU
QUESTIONNAIRES
REGIONAL LEVEL
REGIONAL LEVELS
RURAL
RURAL AREAS
RURAL HOUSEHOLDS
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
SOCIAL TRANSFERS
TARGETING
TOTAL CONSUMPTION
TOTAL INCOME
TRANSFER PROGRAMS
WEALTHY HOUSEHOLDS
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/09/7063026/azerbaijans-household-survey-data-explaining-inequality-so-low
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9267
Description
Summary:While the Azerbaijan household income and expenditure survey (HIES) data satisfy most empirical regularities expected in a typical household survey data, the inequality measures based on the data are unusually low. For example, for the latest three years for which we have data (2002 - 2004), the consumption Gini coefficient (the commonly used summary measure of inequality) is in the range of 16 - 18 percent. This is among the lowest Gini coefficients ever observed in any country, and is extremely low even with the standard of countries generally considered as most equal in the world. Azerbaijan, a transitional economy with a significant natural resource base, is unlikely to be the most equal country in the world. The objective of this paper is to investigate why inequality measures are unusually low in the Azerbaijan household survey data. The author presents a methodology for diagnosing and identifying the potential sources of low inequality in the data, including cluster analysis at the primary sampling unit level. The main inference from the findings of the cluster analysis is that the observed low inequality indices are not due to poor supervision of the interviewers and the data collection process. The author finds that the main culprits for the observed low inequality in the HIES data are (1) the low participation rates of wealthy households in the household surveys, and (2) the widespread availability of well-targeted public and private transfers.

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