EC210: Inequality and Poverty Analysis

This course provides an introduction to the analysis and measurement of inequality and poverty from a quantitative perspective, examining concepts, measurement and data, as well as providing illustrations using real-world examples covering national and global trends over time, and cross-national comparisons.

The majority of the course focuses on analysis of inequality and poverty using monetary measures of living standards. The final section of the course broadens the perspective to consider a range of non-monetary and multidimensional measures reflecting the ‘Beyond Income’ agenda.

This course enables you to answer questions such as the following. Has global poverty fallen? Where is income inequality the greatest? What has happened to income inequality in Latin America? Or China? Do these trends correspond with those for high-income countries in the Global North? Are poverty rates higher in the USA than in Romania? How does the extent of wealth inequality compare with income inequality? To measure living standards, why not simply ask people how happy they are? Is the Human Development Index a good measure of how well countries are doing relative to one another? What are the data sources available for answering questions like these and how do their qualities compare? What are the main measurement tools and concepts that are available in principle and which ones are used in practice (e.g., in official statistics) – and why do they differ?

The course’s approach to analysis is avowedly quantitative, using charts and tables to summarize data and evidence about inequality and poverty. We therefore recommend having a basic training in statistics and maths, but it is possible to do well without these. More important is a willingness to engage intensively with the conceptual and empirical material in depth.

Prerequisites: Basic mathematics and statistics. You need enough to be comfortable with: (a) using symbols and math to represent concepts and measures in formulae and equations (but note that students are never required to memorise formulae); (b) using charts and tables to summarize and interpret data; and (c) basic statistical concepts such as means and variances.

Level: 200 level. Read more information on levels in our FAQs

Fees: Please see Fees and payments

Lectures: 36 hours

Classes: 18 hours

Assessment: Mid-session examination (25%) and a final examination (75%) 

Typical credit: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU)

Please note: Assessment is optional but may be required for credit by your home institution. Your home institution will be able to advise how you can meet their credit requirements. For more information on exams and credit, read Teaching and assessment

Take this course if you want to learn about inequality and poverty – how they are measured and analysed and the types and quality of data that are used – as well as their trends over time, and differences across low-, medium-, and high-income countries.

You will gain generic and transferable analytical skills as well as substantive knowledge, providing good preparation for dissertation research on quantitative topics and helping to advance career prospects in policy think tanks and consultancies, government agencies, and international organizations (e.g., OECD, World Bank).

By the end of the course, you will be able to: 

• Critically evaluate research and official statistics on inequality and poverty
• Identify data sources and assess their quality
• Discuss the policy implications of using different concepts, measures, and datasets
• Communicate and engage well with policy makers, government agencies, and international organizations about assessing inequality and poverty
• Get up-to-date factual knowledge about inequality and poverty topics, enriched by exposure to examples from low-, middle-, and high-income countries.

The design of this course is guided by LSE faculty, as well as industry experts, who will share their experience and in-depth knowledge with you throughout the course.