A Poverty Profile of Cambodia Book

This paper uses the Socioeconomic Survey of Cambodia (SESC) of 1993/94 to estimate poverty measures for Cambodia. The SESC was administered over four rounds to 5578 households in three domains: Phnom Phenh, other urban areas, and rural areas. The paper begins by describing the SESC questionnaire and sampling frame to help interpret representatives of the empirical results because not all areas of Cambodia could be included in the sampling frame. Basic data are given on the level and distribution of living standards as measured by per capita household consumption expenditures. New poverty lines for Cambodia are estimated and used to make poverty comparisons for targeting purposes -assessing differences among regions, sectors of employment, and levels of education, gender, and household size- and to make international comparisons between Cambodia and other countries in East Asia. These consumption-based poverty comparisons are supplemented with an assessment of the distribution of various nonmonetary welfare indicators between the poor and the better off in Cambodia. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving institutional capacity for poverty analysis and poverty in Cambodia.