Matching concepts with measurement

This paper advocates for a conceptualization of the African middle class that would be universally valid: security from economic vulnerability and prospects for social mobility. We suggest three minimum criteria that are jointly necessary and sufficient to reflect this conceptualization: secondary s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Thurlow, James, Resnick, Danielle, Ubogu, Dumebi
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Wiley 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149820
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author Thurlow, James
Resnick, Danielle
Ubogu, Dumebi
author_browse Resnick, Danielle
Thurlow, James
Ubogu, Dumebi
author_facet Thurlow, James
Resnick, Danielle
Ubogu, Dumebi
author_sort Thurlow, James
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper advocates for a conceptualization of the African middle class that would be universally valid: security from economic vulnerability and prospects for social mobility. We suggest three minimum criteria that are jointly necessary and sufficient to reflect this conceptualization: secondary schooling completion, decent housing amenities and skilled employment. Using household surveys for nine African countries, we then demonstrate how measures of the middle class based on expenditure thresholds refer to households with vastly different abilities to meet these three criteria. This cautions against overreliance on expenditure‐based definitions, which may obscure qualitative differences among the middle class across African countries.
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spelling CGSpace1498202024-11-15T08:52:14Z Matching concepts with measurement Thurlow, James Resnick, Danielle Ubogu, Dumebi measurement This paper advocates for a conceptualization of the African middle class that would be universally valid: security from economic vulnerability and prospects for social mobility. We suggest three minimum criteria that are jointly necessary and sufficient to reflect this conceptualization: secondary schooling completion, decent housing amenities and skilled employment. Using household surveys for nine African countries, we then demonstrate how measures of the middle class based on expenditure thresholds refer to households with vastly different abilities to meet these three criteria. This cautions against overreliance on expenditure‐based definitions, which may obscure qualitative differences among the middle class across African countries. 2015-07-24 2024-08-01T02:50:01Z 2024-08-01T02:50:01Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149820 en Open Access Wiley Thurlow, James; Resnick, Danielle; and Ubogu, Dumebi. 2015. Matching concepts with measurement: Who belongs to Africa's middle class? Journal of International Development 27(5): 588 - 608. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3105
spellingShingle measurement
Thurlow, James
Resnick, Danielle
Ubogu, Dumebi
Matching concepts with measurement
title Matching concepts with measurement
title_full Matching concepts with measurement
title_fullStr Matching concepts with measurement
title_full_unstemmed Matching concepts with measurement
title_short Matching concepts with measurement
title_sort matching concepts with measurement
topic measurement
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149820
work_keys_str_mv AT thurlowjames matchingconceptswithmeasurement
AT resnickdanielle matchingconceptswithmeasurement
AT ubogudumebi matchingconceptswithmeasurement