Abstract
Very few demographic surveys in developing countries have gathered information on household incomes or consumption expenditures. Researchers interested in living standards therefore have had little alternative but to rely on simple proxy indicators. The properties of these proxies have not been analyzed systematically. We ask what hypotheses can be tested using proxies, and compare these indicators with consumption expenditures per adult, our preferred measure of living standards. We find that the proxies employed in much demographic research are very weak predictors of consumption per adult. Nevertheless, hypothesis tests based on proxies are likely to be powerful enough to warrant consideration.
References
Adair, L.S., Popkin, B.M., & Guilkey, D.K. (
1993
). The Duration of Breast-Feeding: How Is It Affected by Biological, Socio-demographic, Health Sector, and Food Industry Factors?
. Demography
, 30
, 63
–80
. 10.2307/2061863Aigner, D.J. (
1974
). MSE Dominance of Least Squares With Errors-of-Observation
. Journal of Econometrics
, 2
, 365
–72
. 10.1016/0304-4076(74)90020-7Balk, D. (
1994
). Individual and Community Aspects of Women’s Status and Fertility in Rural Bangladesh
. Population Studies
, 48
, 21
–45
. 10.1080/0032472031000147456Bankole, A. (
1995
). Desired Fertility and Fertility Behaviour Among the Yoruba of Nigeria: A Study of Couple Preferences and Subsequent Fertility
. Population Studies
, 49
, 317
–28
. 10.1080/0032472031000148536Benefo, K.D. (
1995
). The Determinants of the Duration of Postpartum Sexual Abstinence in West Africa: A Multilevel Analysis
. Demography
, 32
, 139
–57
. 10.2307/2061737Bollen, K.A. (
1989
). Structural Equations With Latent Variables
. New York
: Wiley
.Bollen, K.A., Guilkey, D.K., & Mroz, T.A. (
1995
). Binary Outcomes and Endogenous Explanatory Variables: Tests and Solutions With an Application to the Demand for Contraceptive Use in Tunisia
. Demography
, 32
, 111
–31
. 10.2307/2061900Bollen, K.A., & Lennox, R. (
1991
). Conventional Wisdom on Measurement: A Structural Equation Perspective
. Psychological Bulletin
, 110
, 305
–14
. 10.1037/0033-2909.110.2.305Brockerhoff, M. (
1990
). Rural-to-Urban Migration and Child Survival in Senegal
. Demography
, 27
, 601
–16
. 10.2307/2061573Caldwell, J.C. (
1979
). Education as a Factor in Mortality Decline: An Examination of Nigerian Data
. Population Studies
, 33
, 395
–413
. 10.2307/2173888Casterline, J.B. (
1988
). Household Income and Survival in Egypt: Sensitivity of Estimates to Measurement of Income
. Providence, RI
: Brown University Population Studies and Training Center
.Casterline, J.B., Cooksey, E.C., & Ismail, A.F.E. (
1989
). Household Income and Child Survival in Egypt
. Demography
, 26
, 15
–35
. 10.2307/2061491Cleland, J.G., & van Ginneken, J.K. (
1988
). Maternal Education and Child Survival in Developing Countries: The Search for Pathways of Influence
. Social Science and Medicine
, 27
, 1357
–68
. 10.1016/0277-9536(88)90201-8DeGraff, D.S. (
1991
). Increasing Contraceptive Use in Bangladesh: The Role of Demand and Supply Factors
. Demography
, 28
, 65
–81
. 10.2307/2061336Elo, I.T., & Preston, S.H. (
1996
). Educational Differentials in Mortality: United States, 1979–85
. Social Science and Medicine
, 42
, 47
–57
. 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00062-3Filmer, D., & Pritchett, L. (
1999
). The Effect of Household Wealth on Educational Attainment: Evidence From 35 Countries
. Population and Development Review
, 25
, 85
–120
. 10.1111/j.1728-4457.1999.00085.xForste, R. (
1994
). The Effects of Breastfeeding and Birth Spacing on Infant and Child Mortality in Bolivia
. Population Studies
, 48
, 497
–511
. 10.1080/0032472031000147996Foster, A.D. (
1993
). Household Partition in Rural Bangladesh
. Population Studies
, 47
, 97
–114
. 10.1080/0032472031000146756Glewwe, P. (
1999
). School Quality, Student Achievement, and Fertility in Developing Countries
. In C. H. Bledsoe, J. B. Casterline, J. A. Johnson-Kuhn, & J. G. Haaga (Eds.), Critical Perspectives on Schooling and Fertility in the Developing World
(pp. 105
–37
). Washington, DC
: National Academy Press
.Gragnolati, M. 1999. Children’s Malnutrition in Rural Guatemala: A Multilevel Statistical Analysis. PhD dissertation, Princeton University, Program in Population Studies.
Griliches, Z. (
1974
). Errors in Variables and Other Unobservables
. Econometrica
, 42
, 971
–98
. 10.2307/1914213Grosh, M.E., & Glewwe, P. (
1996
). An Introduction to the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Surveys
. Washington, DC
: World Bank
.Grosh, M.E., Zhao, Q.H., & Jeancard, H.-P. (
1995
). The Sensitivity of Consumption Aggregates to Questionnaire Formulation: Some Preliminary Evidence From the Jamaican and Ghanaian LSMS Surveys
. Washington, DC
: Poverty and Human Resources Division, Policy Research Department, World Bank
.Guo, G., & Grummer-Strawn, L.M. (
1993
). Child Mortality Among Twins in Less Developed Countries
. Population Studies
, 47
, 495
–510
. 10.1080/0032472031000147266Hamill, D.N., Tsui, A.O., & Thapa, S. (
1990
). Determinants of Contraceptive Switching Behavior in Rural Sri Lanka
. Demography
, 27
, 559
–78
. 10.2307/2061570Hentschel, J., & Lanjouw, P. (
1996
). Constructing an Indicator of Consumption for the Analysis of Poverty: Principles and Illustrations With Reference to Ecuador
. Washington, DC
: World Bank
.Jensen, E.R. (
1996
). The Fertility Impact of Alternative Family Planning Distribution Channels in Indonesia
. Demography
, 33
, 153
–65
. 10.2307/2061869Knodel, J., & Wongsith, M. (
1991
). Family Size and Children’s Education in Thailand: Evidence From a National Sample
. Demography
, 28
, 119
–31
. 10.2307/2061339Koenig, M.A., Phillips, J.F., Campbell, O.M., & D’Souza, S. (
1990
). Birth Intervals and Childhood Mortality in Rural Bangladesh
. Demography
, 27
, 251
–65
. 10.2307/2061452Larsen, U. (
1995
). Differentials in Infertility in Cameroon and Nigeria
. Population Studies
, 49
, 329
–46
. 10.1080/0032472031000148546LeVine, R.A., LeVine, S.E., Richman, A., Uribe, F.M.T., Correa, C.S., & Miller, P.M. (
1991
). Women’s Schooling and Child Care in the Demographic Transition: A Mexican Case Study
. Population and Development Review
, 17
, 459
–96
. 10.2307/1971950Lloyd, C., & Gage-Brandon, A. (
1994
). High Fertility and Schooling in Ghana: Sex Differences in Parental Contributions and Educational Outcomes
. Population Studies
, 48
, 293
–306
. 10.1080/0032472031000147806MacKinnon, J.G. (
1992
). Model Specification Tests and Artificial Regressions
. Journal of Economic Literature
, 30
(1
), 102
–46
.Montgomery, M.R., Gragnolati, M., Burke, K.A., & Paredes, E. (
1999
). Measuring Living Standards With Proxy Variables
. New York
: Population Council
.Muhuri, P.K. (
1996
). Estimating Seasonality Effects on Child Mortality in Matlab, Bangladesh
. Demography
, 33
, 98
–110
. 10.2307/2061716Njogu, W. (
1991
). Trends and Determinants of Contraceptive Use in Kenya
. Demography
, 28
, 83
–99
. 10.2307/2061337Pebley, A.R., Goldman, N., & Rodríguez, G. (
1996
). Prenatal and Delivery Care and Childhood Immunization in Guatemala: Do Family and Community Matter?
. Demography
, 33
, 231
–47
. 10.2307/2061874Peterson, C., Goldman, N., & Pebley, A.R. (
1997
). The 1995 Guatemalan Survey of Family Health (EGSF): Overview and Codebook
. Santa Monica
: RAND
.Preston, S.H., & Haines, M.R. (
1991
). Fatal Years: Child Mortality in Late Nineteenth-Century America
. Princeton, NJ
: Princeton University Press
.Razzaque, A., Alam, N., Wai, L., & Foster, A. (
1990
). Sustained Effects of the 1974-5 Famine on Infant and Child Mortality in a Rural Area of Bangladesh
. Population Studies
, 44
, 145
–54
. 10.1080/0032472031000144426Richter, K., Podhisita, C., Chamratrithirong, A., & Soon-thorndhada, K. (
1994
). The Impact of Child Care on Fertility in Urban Thailand
. Demography
, 31
, 651
–62
. 10.2307/2061797Sastry, N. (
1996
). Community Characteristics, Individual and Household Attributes, and Child Survival in Brazil
. Demography
, 33
, 211
–29
. 10.2307/2061873Speizer, I.S. (
1995
). A Marriage Trichotomy and Its Applications
. Demography
, 32
, 533
–42
. 10.2307/2061673Stewart, J.F., Popkin, B.M., Guilkey, D.K., Akin, J.S., Adair, L., & Flieger, W. (
1991
). Influences on the Extent of Breast-Feeding: A Prospective Study in the Philippines
. Demography
, 28
, 181
–99
. 10.2307/2061274Stuebing, K.W. (
1997
). Maternal Schooling and Comprehension of Child Health Information in Urban Zambia: Is Literacy a Missing Link in the Maternal Schooling-Child Health Relationship?
. Health Transition Review
, 7
(2
), 151
–71
.Summers, R., & Heston, A. (
1991
). The Penn World Table (Mark 5): An Expanded Set of International Comparisons, 1950–1988
. Quarterly Journal of Economics
, 106
(2
), 327
–68
. 10.2307/2937941Wickens, M.R. (
1972
). A Note on the Use of Proxy Variables
. Econometrica
, 40
, 759
–61
. 10.2307/1912971Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS), 1987–88 and 1988–89: Basic Information
. (1993
). Washington, DC
: World Bank, Poverty and Human Resources Division
.Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (PIHS), 1991: Basic Information
. (1995
). Washington, DC
: World Bank, Poverty and Human Resources Division
.Tanzania Human Resource Development Survey: Final Report
. (1995
). Washington, DC
: World Bank, Population and Human Resources, Eastern Africa Department
.Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC), 1988-94: Basic Information
. (1996
). Washington, DC
: World Bank, Poverty and Human Resources Division
.Peru Survey of Household Living Conditions (ENNIV), 1994: Basic Information
. (1996
). Washington, DC
: World Bank, Poverty and Human Resources Division
.© Population Association of America 2000
2000
Issue Section:
Measurement and Error