Abstract: Aim of this paper is to explore poverty patterns and differentials across Italian
provinces for several objective dimensions of life-style deprivation according
to a multidimensional and fuzzy approach. We propose a joint analysis of
monetary and supplementary deprivation to point out the extent to which the two
aspects of poverty overlap for the population concerned, to look into their
potential background determinants and to sketch a territorial poverty profile.
Since traditional direct estimators, based on ECHP data, cannot provide adequate
precision due to smallness of domain-specific sub-sample, we test Rao-Yu models,
as extension of Fay-Herriot estimator, to handle time-series data. In addition to a diversity of deficiencies found throughout Italy, empirical
evidence clearly emphasize higher degrees of overlap in "poorer" southern
provinces and lower degrees in "richer" northern ones, justifying the
implementation of different approaches to poverty measurement to identify those
areas which, more than others, need structural interventions.
Keywords: Manifest and latent deprivation, small area estimation, socio-economic indicators
