Applications in policy

These papers document or critically engage with one or more policy uses of multidimensional poverty indices. For example, they may show how MPIs are used to target households for certain beneficiary schemes, or to prioritise geographical regions with the highest level of poverty or the highest number of poor. They may explain how information on the deprivation profiles of poor people has been used to inform budgeting. Some papers profile how the MPI is used as a management tool involving key performance indicators, or as a tool to coordinate actions across sectors and levels of government. Others apply impact evaluation techniques where the left-hand side variable denotes a multidimensional outcome. Some studies profile how MPI data has been used in times of disaster or shock, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic or during climate emergencies. Others document how MPIs are linked to national development plans, or scrutinise whether and how MPIs are used in planning and policy design. 

For an overview of MPIs as policy tools please see Alkire, S. (2018). ‘Multidimensional poverty measures as relevant policy tools’, OPHI Working Paper 118, University of Oxford.