Growth and Poverty

Abstract

This study estimates poverty in India across the different states in terms of incidence, depth, and severity by using different rounds of household level unit data provided by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). In this study, the authors have estimated the different measures of both absolute and relative poverty, such as the poverty rate, depth, and severity of poverty across the 22 major states of India, separately for the rural and urban regions. Apart from this, the authors have made a regression analysis to estimate the growth elasticity of poverty (GEP) in India. The panel regression analysis has been carried out over the five rounds of the NSSO, i.e., the 50th (1993-94), 55th (1999-2000), 61st (2004-05), 66th (2009-10), and the 68th rounds. The analysis showed that the urban sector has a significant GEP. A detailed analysis of poverty creates an environment conducive for the poor to improve their living standards in the future. This research, if made available across all public libraries, will play an important role in that direction.