With data for Portugal we propose an index of housing comfort based on the Household Budget Survey. This index covers housing and durable goods grouped in two dimensions: basic comfort and complementary comfort. Taking this index as starting point we make two contributions. First we quantify the...

We propose a new and integrated approach to the measurement of inequality in income distribution, poverty, and richness. In the context of the poverty and richness measures, we consider the three dimensions usually analysed – incidence, intensity, and severity. The proposed broad set of...

This chapter offers a primer on poverty, inequality, and vulnerability analysis and a guide to resources on this topic. It is written for decision makers who want to define the type of information they need to monitor poverty reduction and make appropriate policy decisions and for the technical...

Guinea-Bissau endured a major conflict in 1998 and has suffered from persistent political instability since independence. After a brief review of indicators of governance in Guinea-Bissau and recent political developments, the objective of this Chapter is to provide results from a recent survey...

Given the poor economic performance of Guinea-Bissau over the last few years, including a severe recession toward the end of 2002, poverty is likely to be high and to have risen in recent years even compared to its high postconflict level. The first objective of this chapter is to estimate the...

This article investigates the relationships among economic growth, income distribution and poverty in Brazil during the period from 2001 to 2005. Those relationships are analyzed starting from the selection of three models: one that relates the variations in the poverty indicators and the main...