Conditions for the Most Robust Poverty Comparisons Using the Alkire-Foster Family of Measures

In the burgeoning literature on multidimensional poverty indices, the Alkire-Foster (AF) measures stand out for their resilience in identifying the multidimensionally poor with cut-off criteria covering the spectrum from the union approach to the intersection approach. The intuitiveness and easy applicability of the measures’ identification and aggregation methods are reflected in the increasing use of the AF measures in poverty measurement, as well as in other fields. This paper extends the dominance results derived by Lasso de la Vega (2009) and Alkire and Foster (2010) for the adjusted headcount ratio and develops a new condition whose fulfillment ensures the robustness of comparisons using the adjusted headcount ratio for any choice of multidimensional cut-off and for any weights and poverty lines. The paper then derives a first-order dominance condition for the whole Alkire-Foster family (that is, for continuous variables).

Multidimensional Poverty: Measurement, Estimation, and Inference

Multidimensional poverty measures give rise to a host of statistical hypotheses which are of interest to applied economists and policy-makers alike. In the specific context of the generalized Alkire-Foster (Alkire and Foster 2008) class of measures, we show that many of these hypotheses can be treated in a unified manner and also tested simultaneously using the minimum p-value methodology of Bennett (2010). When applied to study the relative state of poverty among Hindus and Muslims in India, these tests reveal novel insights into the plight of the poor which are not otherwise captured by traditional univariate approaches.

Thinking about Later Life: Insights from the Capability Approach

A major criticism of mainstream gerontological frameworks is the inability of such frameworks to appreciate and incorporate issues of diversity and difference in engaging with experiences of aging. Given the prevailing socially structured nature of inequalities, such differences matter greatly in shaping experiences, as well as social constructions, of aging. I argue that Amartya Sen’s capability approach (2009) potentially offers gerontological scholars a broad conceptual framework that places at its core consideration of human beings (their values) and centrality of human diversity. As well as identifying these key features of the capability approach, I discuss and demonstrate their relevance to thinking about old age and aging. I maintain that in the context of complex and emerging identities in later life that shape and are shaped by shifting people-place and people-people relationships, Sen’s capability approach offers significant possibilities for gerontological research

Capability-based Evaluation Framework for Basic Education Quality

학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 사범대학 협동과정 글로벌교육협력전공, 2022.2. 유성상.대표적으로 MDG2, EFA, SDG4와 같은 국제사회 교육 개발 협력의 목표는 전세계 수많은 아이들에게 교육의 기회를 제공하는데 기여하였다. 특별히 MDG 두번째 목표인 ‘Achieving universal primary education(보편적 초등 교육의 달성)’을 통해 많은 수의 아이들을 초등학교에 등록하게 하는 획기적인 양적 성과를 이뤘다. 이후 국제 사회는 이러한 성과를 바탕으로 보다 도전적인 목표로서(SDG4) ‘모두에게 통합적이고 평등한 양질의 평생학습 기회’ 확보를 세웠다(UN 2015). 실제 교육 분야로 투입된 원조의 양은 지난 20년간 꾸준히 증가하여 2019년에는 약 159억 달러에 달하였다(OECD CRS 2021). 하지만 국제사회의 꾸준한 정책적 재정적 지원에도 불구하고 많은 통계자료는 MDG이후 국제 사회 교육 지표의 변화가 멈추거나 심지어 일부 지역의 경우 악화되는 모습을 전망하고 있다(UNESCO 2019; UN 2015). 특히 MDG 목표 달성의 주요 척도였던 등록률 지표를 제외하고는, 중도탈락률, 졸업률 등의 지표는 전혀 개선의 여지를 보이지 않고 있다. 지표(Indicator)를 어떠한 상태의 본질이나 과정의 가장 적절한 순간을 포착하는 도구 중 하나라고 가정하였을 때, 등록률 지표는 교육 발전의 긴 과정의 문을 여는 기초 단계라고 할 수 있다. 교육 발전을 논의할 때 가장 보편적이고 기초적인 지표로 활용되는 이유이다. 뿐만 아니라 등록률 지표는 UN이 Tier I 으로 구분한 것과 같이 데이터 수집의 용이성 측면에서도 기초적이며, 지표 측정의 방법론적 측면에서도 기초적이다. 그렇다면 중도탈락률, 졸업률, 혹은 학업성취율과 같은 지표는 어떠한가? 저자가 과도한 일반화의 위험을 감수하고도 상식적 수준에서 말할 수 있는 것은, 해당 지표들은 등록률 지표와는 다른 수준의 복잡성을 내포한다. 본 논문은 등록률 외의 교육 지표의 변화가 멈춘 이유를 단순히 지표의 해석적 다양성 혹은 데이터 수집의 어려움에서 찾고자 하지 않는다. 오히려 우리가 특정 목표의 달성을 점검하기 위해 수행하는 평가에서 지표를 활용하는 것이 얼마나 단편적이며 결과 중심적인 해석을 가져오는지 그 한계를 드러내고자 한다. 그리고 그것을 극복하기 위한 대안으로서 개발평가에서 교육의 질을 평가할 때 지금까지 활발하게 논의되지 않았던 ‘학생과 교수자와의 학습 공간에서의 상호 작용’을 평가의 한 가운데로 놓는 평가틀을 제안한다. 후생 경제 이론으로 노벨 경제학상을 받은 인도의 경제 철학자 아마티아센은 1990년대 Capability Approach를 통해 개발협력의 수많은 분야에 가히 혁명적 영향을 미쳤다. 특히 삶의 질을 평가하는 개념적 틀을 제공하는데 큰 기여를 했는데, 그간 GDP로만 평가되었던 국가의 발전 정도를 교육과 보건의 영역까지 확장 시켰기 때문이다. 본 논문이 제시하는 교육의 질 평가틀을 개념화하는데 있어 Capability Approach가 이론적 근거로서 갖는 핵심적 기여는 개인과 사회의 ‘다양성’을 평가의 매우 중요한 요소로 포함시킨다는 것에 있다. 즉, 개인의 선택의 과정과 그 결과는 개인적, 사회적, 환경적 요인의 다양한 조합에 의한 영향의 결과임을 드러낸다. 이것은 센에 의해 conversion factor라는 용어로 표현되었다. 교육의 질을 평가하기 위한 질적 접근은 상대적으로 많은 노력과 재원이 필요하다. 그럼에도 불구하고 이러한 대안적 평가틀을 제안하는 것은 다음의 이유가 있다. 첫째, 이미 많은 교육학자들의 연구를 통해 교육의 ‘과정’의 질적 개선과 교육 발전과의 상관관계를 보여줬기 때문이다. 여기서 말하는 과정은 학습자와 교수자 간의 상호작용을 이야기하며 공교육의 형태에서는 교실 안 수업 시간의 모습을 예로 들 수 있다. 둘째, 현재의 개발 평가의 접근은 이러한 학습 과정에 대한 평가를 철저하게 배제하고 있기 때문이다. 특히 개발협력의 프로젝트와 프로그램 평가에서 활용되는 지표들은 데이터 수집의 용이성, 측정 가능성 등의 경제적 이유로 가장 핵심적이라고 할 수 있는 학습 과정, 질적 변화에 대한 반영이 너무나 미흡한 실정이다. 본 논문에서 제안하는 기초교육의 질 평가틀은 아마티아 센의 Capability Approach의 핵심적 가치를 기반하였으며, 기존 교육 분야에서 질 평가를 위해 활용되어온 이론과 접근 방법을 상당 부분 차용하였다. 또한 ‘기초 교육의 질 지표(Index)’를 제안함으로써 보다 포괄적인 접근에서의 교육의 질 평가가 이뤄질 수 있도록 하였다. Capability에 기반한 평가는 ‘어떻게’ 평가하느냐에 대한 방법론적 질문 뿐만 아니라 ‘무엇을’통해 교육의 질을 평가하느냐에 대한 보다 근본적인 질문에 대한 답을 찾게 한다. 본 연구가 교육개발협력에서의 기초 교육의 질을 정의하고 평가하는데 보다 교육적 관점을 제공하는데 기여할 수 있기를 기대한다.International education development goals such as MDG2, EFA, and SDG4 have helped to provide educational opportunities to thousands of children around the world. Andover the last 20 years, the amount of international aid invested in education sector has steadily increased, reaching around $15.9 billion in 2019. (OECD CRS 2021). A significant quantitative result was achieved in enrolling a large number of children in elementary school through the MDG's second goal, 'Achieving universal primary education.' Since then, the international community has set a more challenging goal (SDG4) to ensure ‘inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ based on these achievements (UN 2015). However, despite steady policy and financial support from the international community, many statistical data predict that changes in international social education indicators after the MDG will stop or even worsen in some regions (UNESCO 2019; UN 2015). In particular, with the exception of the enrollment rate indicator, which was a major measure of achievement of the MDG goal, indicators such as dropout rate and graduation rate show no room for improvement at all. Assuming that the indicator is one of the tools for capturing the essence of any state or the most appropriate moment of the certain process, the enrollment rate indicator can be considered as a first step in a long educational development process. This is why it is used as the most common and basic indicator when discussing educational development. In addition, it is also classified as Tire I indicator by the IAEG-SDGs based on its methodological development and the availability of data. So, what about other indicators such as dropout rates, graduation rates, or academic achievement rates? What I can say at a common-sense level, even at the risk of overgeneralization, is that these indicators contain a higher level of complexity than the enrollment rate indicators. This study is not intended to blame those indicators for the slowing of educational development. Rather, it tries to highlight the shortcomings of how fragmentary and result-oriented the interpretation of the indicators of development evaluation to ensure the achievement of specific goals. And, as an alternative to overcoming it, I propose an evaluation framework that places the ‘interaction between students and instructors in the learning space’, which has not been actively discussed so far in development evaluation, in the center of evaluation when evaluating the quality of education. Indian economic philosopher Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his theory of welfare economy, had a truly revolutionary effect on numerous fields of development cooperation through his Capability Approach in the 1990s. In particular, he made a great contribution to providing a conceptual framework for measuring the well-being, as he extended the development of the country, which had been evaluated only by GDP, to the fields of education and health. The key contribution of the Capability approach as a theoretical framework in conceptualizing the evaluation framework for quality of education presented in this study is that it includes the 'diversity' of individuals, social and environmental contexts as a very important factor in the evaluation. In other words, it reveals that the process and results of individual choices are influenced by a various combination of personal, social, and environmental factors. Sen referred to this as the conversion factor. A qualitative approach to assessing the quality of education requires a relatively significant amount of time and resources. Nevertheless, the proposal of such an alternative evaluation framework is for the following reasons. First, it is because many educators have already shown a correlation between the qualitative improvement of the education and ‘process’ of teaching and learning. The process here refers to the interaction between the learner and the instructor. Second, it is because the current development evaluation approach completely excludes evaluation of this learning process. In particular, the indicators used in the evaluation of development cooperation projects and programs do not reflect the most important learning process and qualitative change for economic reasons such as ease of data collection and measurability. The evaluation framework of basic education quality proposed in this dissertation is based on the core value of Amartya Sen's capability approach, and it borrows many theories and approaches that have been used for quality evaluation in the education field. In addition, to assist more comprehensive manner of evaluation of quality education, the ‘Basic Education Quality Index’ is proposed. It is expected the Capability-based evaluation will contribute to find answers to the more fundamental question of evaluating the quality of education through ‘what’ as well as the methodological question of ‘how’ to evaluate. Finally, I wish it is also to bring a more educational perspective in defining and evaluating the quality of basic education in educational development cooperation.I. Introduction 1 1.1 Research Background and Objectives 1 1.2 Capability Approach as a Theoretical Methodology 7 1.3 Research Scope and Structure of Dissertation 11 II. Literature Review 14 2.1 Core Concepts of the Capability Approach 14 2.2 Critiques and the Capability List 21 2.3 Capability and Education 25 III. Quality Issues in Education Development Cooperation 37 3.1 Agenda Shifting from Accessibility to Quality 37 3.2 Assessing the Quality of Education 45 IV. Results-based Evaluation in Development Cooperation 57 4.1 Development Evaluation and Quality Measurement 58 4.2 Results-based Approach in Development Evaluation 69 4.3 Challenges of Results-based Approach 81 V. Capability-based Evaluation Framework for Quality Education 90 5.1 Evaluation Framework for Basic Education Quality 94 5.2 Discussions 105 5.3 Application and Methodology 138 VI. Conclusion 148 6.1 Evaluation of Education Quality and Capability 148 6.2 Limitation of the Study 153 6.3 Final Remarks 155박

A State of the Art of Self Help Groups in India

This paper considers the strategies of self help group for micro-enterprise development in rural areas. It seeks to answer the question of whether and under which conditions self help groups are an effective vehicle for organizing and representing local people in the development of community based micro-enterprises. Focusing particularly on examples from India in the context of food as a local resource, special attention is paid to success and failure factors of self help groups. While self help group strategies have been applied in the past as a blind replication of success models without considering the intricacies involved in group formation, success of self help groups is based on a thorough understanding of local conditions and possibilities to intervene

Shape evolution of electrodeposited bumps with deep cavity

Electrodeposited bumps are the indispensable microconnectors for high-density interconnection in the latest microelectronics applications. The deep cavities are especially important for the solder bumps for ball grid arrays. This investigation discusses the relation between cavity shapes and current distributions of deep cavities. The role of convection and diffusion within the cavities is calculated at diffusion-limited overpotentials with numerical fluid dynamics computations. The current distributions become symmetric and peak profiles become sharper for the deeper cavities of large aspect ratios and of negative photoresist angles, theta. For 30 mu m cathode length, the current at the center is larger than that at the edges for photoresist angles of theta less than or equal to 0. For these deep cavities, the convection outside the cavity is not related to the current distribution and the current distribution is determined by the cavity shape. The mass transport within the deep cavities is controlled mainly by diffusion. This is because the convection outside the cavities is not effectively stirring inside the deep cavities.</p

Shenandoah (1981 program)

Performed October 30-31, 1981. Cast:Charlie Anderson: Ray WrightJacob: Mike RushingJames: Mark EvansNathan: Kirk NelsonJohn: Joe AaronJenny: Kim HudsonHenry: Brynn UlisnikRobert (the Boy): Michael OrganAnne: Vicki DellGabriel: Wayne BettisReverend Byrd: Buddy BakerSam: Robin CannonSergeant Johnson: Scott CodyLieutenant: Jeff JohnsonTinkham: Cliff ThompsonCarol: Andy CrossmanCorporal: Kevin UebeleinMarauders: Kimball Crum, Paul Perkins, and Scott CodyEngineer: Cliff ThompsonConfederate Sniper: Rod SmithSoldier with the Sniper: Todd WilsonChurchmen: Warren Alkire, Jeff Johnson, and Kevin UebeleinRebels: Warren Alkire, Kimball Crum, Jeff Johnson, Rod Smith, Kevin Uebelein, and Todd WilsonYankees: Mark Brasher, Danny Campbell, Tim Johnson, Paul Perkins, Jim Schwatzman, and Tim WalkerPrisoners: Warren Alkire, Mark Brasher, Danny Campbell, Scott Cody, Kimball Crum, Danny Gillett, Jeff Johnson, Tim Johnson, Paul Perkins, Jim Schwatzman, Rod Smit, Kevin Uebelein, Tim Walker, and Todd WilsonNeighbors: Warren Alkire, Kimball Crum, and Todd WilsonHorsemen: Danny Campbell, Paul Perkins, Jim Schwatzman, and Tim WalkerWomen\u27s Ensemble: Chris Batty, Janet Bean, Lisa James, Jo Ellen Noland, Donna Slack, Lisa Taylor, Laura White, and Trella Yateshttps://scholarworks.harding.edu/theatre-history/1087/thumbnail.jp

Subjective Well-Being: Easterlin Paradox, the (decreasing) Return(s)? From log to square, new evidence from wealthier data

The quest for happiness is neither new for human beings, nor for economists. With the systematization of household surveys, Subjective Well-Being studies have flourished. Discussions now focus on the slope of the virtually unchallenged curvilinear functional form between income and life satisfaction. Indeed, if growth positive returns are not -yet- contested for societies that have difficulties satisfying their population?s basic needs, the correlation between income and Subjective Well-Being in wealthier countries has no consensus; from flat to steep, researchers dither? Benefitting from larger datasets, recent papers have attempted to debunk the Easterlin paradox. They show that self-reported well-being is steadily and positively correlated with income and growth, even in developed countries. However, using the most up-to-date global surveys, calculations cast doubt upon the belief in an eternal sunshine relation between income and ?happiness?. Indeed, we observe that the curvilinear relation between income and happiness could be challenged by the quadratic one. Thus, it now appears difficult to reject the possibility of decreasing returns, to the extent that it might be possible to consider, not only a weak, but a negative correlation between income and happiness for wealthier countries. Nevertheless, this perspective is likely dependent on the sample size. Moreover, we claim no direct causality for the uncovered negative slope. Further investigations would be necessary to prove, inform - or disprove - these new findings. La recherche du bonheur n?est pas une quête nouvelle pour les humains, ni pour les économistes ! Avec la systématisation des enquêtes ménages, les études sur le bien-être subjectif se sont multipliées. Si le caractère curvilinéaire de l?association entre revenu et bien-être subjectif n?est pas, jusqu?ici, remise en question, les débats se sont récemment concentrés sur la pente de celle-ci. En effet, bien que l?impact positif de la croissance sur le bien-être dans les pays en développement ne soit pas contesté, pour les pays industrialisés, la corrélation entre bien-être subjectif et revenu est loin de faire l?objet d?un consensus. Récemment, en utilisant des bases de données de plus en plus larges, certaines recherches ont remis en cause le paradoxe d?Easterlin. D?après ces travaux, il serait désormais clair que le bien-être subjectif soit durablement et positivement corrélé avec le revenu et la croissance, même pour les pays industrialisés. Néanmoins, nos observations réalisées grâce aux plus complètes bases de données actuellement disponibles, montrent que la relation idyllique entre revenu et bien-être subjectif peut être remise en question. La forme curvilinéaire pourrait en effet, cacher une forme quadratique. Il deviendrait alors difficile de rejeter l?existence de gains marginaux décroissants. Néanmoins, il serait imprudent d?établir un lien de causalité pour la partie décroissante de la pente ainsi mise à jour. De nouvelles recherches et des données plus longues seront nécessaires pour alimenter, ou réfuter, nos observations. (Full text in english)

Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index

This document presents women's empowerment in agriculture index. Women play a critical and potentially transformative role in agricultural growth in developing countries, but they face persistent obstacles and economic constraints limiting further inclusion in agriculture. The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) measures the empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women in the agriculture sector in an effort to identify ways to overcome those obstacles and constraints. The Index is a significant innovation in its field and aims to increase understanding of the connections between women's empowerment, food security, and agricultural growth. It measures the roles and extent of women's engagement in the agriculture sector in five domains: (1) decisions about agricultural production, (2) access to and decision making power over productive resources, (3) control over use of income, (4) leadership in the community, and (5) time use. It also measures women's empowerment relative to men within their households