Small area methodology for measuring poverty at a local level

Sample surveys on income and living conditions rarely give credible estimates of poverty indicators at sub-regional and local level. This explains the importance of Small Area Estimation (SAE) methods for measuring poverty at the local level. In this chapter, the reader is introduced to SAE for obtaining reliable estimates of poverty indicators at the local level when survey data are not sufficient (e.g., due to a lack of precision or a complete lack of data). Standard SAE methods and some new developments that allow the use of big data for estimating poverty at the local level are presented.