Not too long ago a friend of mine traveled to Ecuador and Cambodia in a span of just a few months. She said Ecuador looked to her like a much poorer place than Cambodia. It's interesting because, according to GDP per capita statistics, Ecuador is almost four times richer than Cambodia (regardless of whether you're looking at official exchange rate or purchasing power parity). So why does it appear the other way around? I can think of three possible explanations (which are not mutually exclusive):
If you have other ideas, please share them.
- Biased sample. Perhaps she just saw the poorer parts of Ecuador and richer parts of Cambodia.
- Appearances can be deceiving. Urban poverty, for example, generally looks much more desperate and miserable than rural poverty, and Cambodia is mostly rural. If you visit Czech countryside first and then the West Side of Baltimore City, you may very well walk away with an impression that Czech Republic is richer than the US.
- GDP statistics get the story wrong. Perhaps Cambodia's "shadow economy" is very large.
- Suggestion from a comment by Funding Your Analyst: Cultural differences. For example, Ecuador is a former Spanish colony whereas Cambodia is a former French colony. I'd be very surprised if that played no role in this case--and it's just one possibly relevant cultural difference.
If you have other ideas, please share them.
Maybe there's something about cultural references that aren't exactly correlative with statistical poverty, in that your friend also more strongly associates wealth with what she saw in Cambodia than with what she saw in Ecuador (Something about colonial heritage, perhaps?). Just a shot in the dark.
ReplyDeleteVery good point. Not only did I not consider cultural differences, but I've never even thought of the obvious possibility that the reason isn't general but specific to Cambodia and Ecuador. I'll add your suggestion.
ReplyDelete