MPC Member Publications

This database contains a listing of population studies publications written by MPC Members. Anyone can add a publication by an MPC student, faculty, or staff member to this database; new citations will be reviewed and approved by MPC administrators.

Full Citation

Title: Water, walls, and bicycles: Wealth index composition using census microdata

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2022

ISSN: 2054-0892

DOI: 10.1017/DEM.2020.27

PMID: 36313399

Abstract: In this study, we produce a valid and consistent variable for socioeconomic status (SES) at the household level with census microdata from ten developing countries available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series - International (IPUMS-I), the world's largest census database. We use principal components analysis to compute a wealth index based on asset ownership, utilities, and dwelling characteristics. We validate the index by verifying socioeconomic gradients on school enrollment and educational attainment. Given that the availability of socioeconomic indicators varies considerably across samples of census microdata, we implement a stepwise elimination procedure on the wealth index to identify the conditions that produce an internally consistent index. Using the results of the stepwise methodology, we propose which indicators are most important in measuring household SES. The development of the asset index for such a large archive of international census microdata is a very useful public resource for researchers.

Url: https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/water-walls-and-bicycles-wealth-index-composition-using-census-mi

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Lovaton Davila, Rodrigo; McCarthy, Aine Seitz; Gondwe, Dorothy; Kirdruang, Phatta; Sharma, Uttam

Periodical (Full): Journal of Demographic Economics

Issue: 1

Volume: 88

Pages: 79-120

Countries:

IPUMS NHGIS NAPP IHIS ATUS Terrapop