Traditional poverty measures neglect several important dimensions of household welfare. In this paper we construct a measure of 'vulnerability' which allows us to quantify the welfare loss associated with poverty as well as the loss associated with any of a variety of different sources of uncertainty. Applying our measure to a panel dataset from Bulgaria in 1994, we find that poverty and risk play roughly equal roles in reducing welfare. Aggregate shocks are more important than idiosyncratic sources of risk, but households headed by an employed, educated male are less vulnerable to aggregate shocks than are other households.

The United States is viewed by the world as a country with plenty of food, yet not all households in America are food secure, meaning access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. A proportion of the population experiences food insecurity at some time in a given year because of food deprivation and lack of access to food due to economic resource constraints. Still, food insecurity in the United States is not of the same intensity as in some developing countries. Since 1995 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has annually published statistics on the extent of food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger in U.S. households. These estimates are based on a survey measure developed by the U.S. Food Security Measurement Project, an ongoing collaboration among federal agencies, academic researchers, and private organizations. USDA requested the Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies to convene a panel of experts to undertake a two-year study in two phases to review at this 10-year mark the concepts and methodology for measuring food insecurity and hunger and the uses of the measure. In Phase 2 of the study the panel was to consider in more depth the issues raised in Phase 1 relating to the concepts and methods used to measure food security and make recommendations as appropriate. The Committee on National Statistics appointed a panel of 10 experts to examine the above issues. In order to provide timely guidance to USDA, the panel issued an interim Phase 1 report, Measuring Food Insecurity and Hunger: Phase 1 Report. That report presented the panel's preliminary assessments of the food security concepts and definitions; the appropriateness of identifying hunger as a severe range of food insecurity in such a survey-based measurement method; questions for measuring these concepts; and the appropriateness of a household survey for regularly monitoring food security in the U.S. population. It provided interim guidance for the continued production of the food security estimates. This final report primarily focuses on the Phase 2 charge. The major findings and conclusions based on the panel's review and deliberations are summarized.

Due to the widespread use of surveys in agricultural resources estimation there is a broad and recognizable interest in methods and techniques to collect and process agricultural data. This book brings together the knowledge of academics and experts to increase the dissemination of the latest developments in agricultural statistics. Conducting a census, setting up frames and registers and using administrative data for statistical purposes are covered and issues arising from sample design and estimation, use of remote sensing, management of data quality and dissemination and analysis of survey data are explored. Key features: Brings together high quality research on agricultural statistics from experts in this field. Provides a thorough and much needed overview of developments within agricultural statistics. Contains summaries for each chapter, providing a valuable reference framework for those new to the field. Based upon a selection of key methodological papers presented at the ICAS conference series, updated and expanded to address current issues. Covers traditional statistical methodologies including sampling and weighting. This book provides a much needed guide to conducting surveys of land use and to the latest developments in agricultural statistics. Statisticians interested in agricultural statistics, agricultural statisticians in national statistics offices and statisticians and researchers using survey methodology will benefit from this book.