Browsing by Author "Welch, Matthew"

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    Comparing alternative measures of household income: evidence from the Khayelitsha/Mitchell's plain survey
    (Taylor & Francis, 2004) Skordis, Jolene; Welch, Matthew
    Household income is widely used for economic and sociological analysis, yet little emphasis has been placed on the optimal way to gather household income data. The Khayelitsha/Mitchell's Plain Survey provides a unique opportunity to explore alternative ways of measuring household income. This study compares the estimates obtained from a household module with those obtained from detailed income data collected in the adult module of the survey. Estimates derived from individual income data tend to be higher and have greater variation than those obtained from the household module. This difference between income estimates has a material impact on the secondary analysis of income data. The Gini coefficient, a simple measure of income-inequality, is used in this study to illustrate how household income measured at the household level underestimates household income inequality.
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    Measuring recent Changes in South African Inequality and Poverty using 1996 and 2001 Census Data
    (2005-06) Leibbrandt, Murray; Poswell, Laura; Naidoo, Pranushka; Welch, Matthew; Woolard, Ingrid
    The paper analyses poverty and inequality changes in South Africa for the period 1996 to 2001 using Census data. As regards population group inequality, within-group inequality has increased; while between-group inequality has decreased (inequality has also increased in each province and across the rural/urban divide).
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    Measuring recent changes in South African inequality and poverty using 1996 and 2001 census data
    (CSSR and SALDRU, 2015-05-28) Leibbrandt, Murray; Poswell, Laura; Naidoo, Pranushka; Welch, Matthew; Woolard, Ingrid
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    Measuring recent changes in South African inequality and poverty using 1996 and 2001 census data
    (2004) Leibbrandt, Murray; Naidoo, Pranushka; Poswell, Laura; Welch, Matthew; Woolard, Ingrid
    The paper analyses poverty and inequality changes in South Africa for the period 1996 to 2001 using Census data. To gain a broader picture of wellbeing in South Africa, both income-based and access-based measurement approaches are employed. At the national level, findings from the income-based approach show that inequality has unambiguously increased from 1996 to 2001. As regards population group inequality, within-group inequality has increased; while between-group inequality has decreased (inequality has also increased in each province and across the rural/urban divide). The poverty analysis reveals that poverty has worsened in the nation, particularly for Africans. Provincially, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo have the highest poverty rates while the Western Cape and Gauteng have the lowest poverty rates. Poverty differs across the urban-rural divide with rural areas being relatively worse off than urban areas. However, due to the large extent of rural-urban migration, the proportion of the poor in rural areas is declining. The access-based approach focuses on type of dwelling, access to water, energy for lighting, energy for cooking, sanitation and refuse removal. The data reveal significant improvements in these access measures between 1996 and 2001. The proportion of households occupying traditional dwellings has decreased while the proportion of households occupying formal dwellings has risen slightly (approximately two-thirds of households occupy formal dwellings). Access to basic services has improved, especially with regard to access to electricity for lighting and access to telephones. On a provincial level, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape display the poorest performance in terms of access to basic services. The paper concludes by contrasting the measured changes in well being that emerge from the income and access approaches.  While income measures show worsening well being via increases in income poverty and inequality, access measures show that well being in South Africa has improved in a number of important dimensions.
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    Rural urban migration in developing countries : a survey of economic theory and empirical evidence
    (2000) Welch, Matthew
    This survey focuses on the theoretical and empirical aspects of rural-urban migration as a determinant of the observed rapid urbanisation in developing countries. The theoretical work covers the neo-classical as well as alternative economic theories of migration. The empirical component covers work on the determinants of migration and attempts to test the economic theories. The more recent modelling and simulation techniques of the computable general equilibrium models (CGE) are then discussed and their merits assessed.
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    The sensitivity of estimates of post- apartheid changes in South African poverty and inequality to key data imputations
    (CSSR and SALDRU, 2015-05-28) Ardington, Cally; Lam, David; Leibbrandt, Murray; Welch, Matthew