Small area estimation techniques are frequently used in poverty mapping. For this paper, an econometric approach to small area estimation, known as the ELL method, was applied to estimate poverty and inequality indicators in small areas 1 of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This study aims to determine patterns of poverty and inequality in small areas and household characteristics related to them in order to provide practical tools for a geographically targeted pro-poor policy. Drawbacks in the current Government welfare policy (uniform cash distribution) along with the diversity among provinces and small areas regarding scale of poverty and inequality and their correlates, as well as the level of living standards, underlines the need to utilize small area estimations as a tool for evidence-based policymaking.
Previous research shows that consumers' response to price and income changes is heterogeneous. In addition, evidence from national data often does not support the classical assumption of one commodity-one price. This paper introduces a data coherent generalization to the quadratic form of the almost ideal demand system (g-QUAIDS) that incorporates the sources of heterogeneity in the demand function and allows for regional price variation. Aggregation over consumers imposes a linearization to the g-QUAIDS that requires a new set of price indices. The results from an empirical study by using microdata from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey of Iran highlight the impact of aggregation bias in relation to the level of aggregation. An investigation of the predictive power of linear versus nonlinear g-QUAIDS in different aggregation levels provides practical recommendations for consumer demand analysis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.