Page 250 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 3

CPS2010 Rodrigo L. et al.
Figure 2: Paraguay, population with low and high values of the asset index,
by urban/rural location and at the second administrative level of geography;
Data source: Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) International.

4. Discussion and Conclusion
Preliminary results for the countries included in the study show overall
improvements in wealth from an asset-based perspective for most of the
samples analyzed (except for Colombia) between the census rounds of 1990,
2000, and 2010. Even though the national trend for Colombia shows a decline
in household wealth, the spatial distribution of the asset index highlights
specific areas that did achieve progress over time. Furthermore, improvements
based on the set of indicators analyzed are found to be uneven and appear to
be biased towards the population residing in urban areas. Thus, the use of a
non-monetary approach to examine wealth and poverty provides additional
insights with respect to traditionally used measures such as household
expenditures or income. The final version of this paper will compare asset-
based wealth using principal components analysis against indices predicting
household expenditures. In addition, we will measure the gaps between urban
and rural areas, the magnitude of spatial inequalities, and decompose the

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