Poverty reduction experiences of southeast asian countries

This chapter discusses some measurement issues affecting poverty measurement. It summarizes available data on poverty incidence in these eight countries of Southeast Asia (all of Association of Southeast Asian Nations except Brunei and Singapore) and data on economic growth in all eight countries except Myanmar. The chapter focuses on the headcount measure of absolute poverty incidence-the proportion of the population whose expenditures or incomes fall below a fixed threshold the monetary value of which is adjusted over time to maintain a constant real purchasing power. Poverty incidence and its change over time depend on many factors, of which economic variables are at most only part of the story. The fact that separate data sets are involved-the national accounts for economic growth and household survey data for poverty incidence-has both advantages and disadvantages. Growth of agriculture, and to a lesser extent growth of services, are associated with poverty reduction, along with lower levels of the real price of food.