A Comparative Analysis of Wealth Index Predictions in Africa between three Multi-Source Inference Models

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Karsai, Márton, Kertész, János, Espín-Noboa, Lisette
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866929561883639808
author Karsai, Márton
Kertész, János
Espín-Noboa, Lisette
author_facet Karsai, Márton
Kertész, János
Espín-Noboa, Lisette
contents Poverty map inference has become a critical focus of research, utilizing both traditional and modern techniques, ranging from regression models to convolutional neural networks applied to tabular data, satellite imagery, and networks. While much attention has been given to validating models during the training phase, the final predictions have received less scrutiny. In this study, we analyze the International Wealth Index (IWI) predicted by Lee and Braithwaite (2022) and Espín-Noboa et al. (2023), alongside the Relative Wealth Index (RWI) inferred by Chi et al. (2022), across six Sub-Saharan African countries. Our analysis reveals trends and discrepancies in wealth predictions between these models. In particular, significant and unexpected discrepancies between the predictions of Lee and Braithwaite and Espín-Noboa et al., even after accounting for differences in training data. In contrast, the shape of the wealth distributions predicted by Espín-Noboa et al. and Chi et al. are more closely aligned, suggesting similar levels of skewness. These findings raise concerns about the validity of certain models and emphasize the importance of rigorous audits for wealth prediction algorithms used in policy-making. Continuous validation and refinement are essential to ensure the reliability of these models, particularly when they inform poverty alleviation strategies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_01631
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Comparative Analysis of Wealth Index Predictions in Africa between three Multi-Source Inference Models
Karsai, Márton
Kertész, János
Espín-Noboa, Lisette
Physics and Society
Computers and Society
Machine Learning
Poverty map inference has become a critical focus of research, utilizing both traditional and modern techniques, ranging from regression models to convolutional neural networks applied to tabular data, satellite imagery, and networks. While much attention has been given to validating models during the training phase, the final predictions have received less scrutiny. In this study, we analyze the International Wealth Index (IWI) predicted by Lee and Braithwaite (2022) and Espín-Noboa et al. (2023), alongside the Relative Wealth Index (RWI) inferred by Chi et al. (2022), across six Sub-Saharan African countries. Our analysis reveals trends and discrepancies in wealth predictions between these models. In particular, significant and unexpected discrepancies between the predictions of Lee and Braithwaite and Espín-Noboa et al., even after accounting for differences in training data. In contrast, the shape of the wealth distributions predicted by Espín-Noboa et al. and Chi et al. are more closely aligned, suggesting similar levels of skewness. These findings raise concerns about the validity of certain models and emphasize the importance of rigorous audits for wealth prediction algorithms used in policy-making. Continuous validation and refinement are essential to ensure the reliability of these models, particularly when they inform poverty alleviation strategies.
title A Comparative Analysis of Wealth Index Predictions in Africa between three Multi-Source Inference Models
topic Physics and Society
Computers and Society
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.01631