Research · Line 01
Measuring opportunity and agency
Methods for measuring things that cannot be observed directly; whether scales of agency and empowerment capture choice or merely lowered expectations; how to pick indicators and spot redundant ones. This is ODA's methodological core.
The founder's publications on this line
- Ballon, P. (2023). Statistical issues in multidimensional poverty measurement: redundancy analysis. In J. Silber (Ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, 463–474. Edward Elgar. DOI
- Ballon, P. (2018). A structural equation model of female empowerment. Journal of Development Studies, 54(8), 1303–1320. DOI
- Klein, E., & Ballon, P. (2018). Rethinking measures of psychological agency: a study on the urban fringe of Bamako. Journal of Development Studies, 54(8), 1284–1302. DOI
- Krishnakumar, J., & Ballon, P. (2008). Estimating basic capabilities: a structural equation model applied to Bolivia. World Development, 36(6), 992–1010. DOI
Builds on: capabilities as latent variables (Bolivia, 2008); structural models of empowerment (2018); redundancy in poverty measures (2023).