Chronic Poverty in Rural India, An Analysis using Panel Data: Issues andFindings

Abstract

The distinction between chronic or extended duration poverty and transient poverty is rarely made in the substantial literature on poverty in India. Determination of poverty as chronic or temporary requires that the same households be tracked over time through a panel data set and/or use of life or event history and other qualitative approaches. This paper reviews the limited panel data based literature on chronic poverty in India and a subset of the literature on other countries. It then uses panel data that longitudinally track 3,139 households in rural India to try to identify and understand the factors that influenced or constrained changes in poverty status over time.