Résumé en anglais

Using the PAPI dataset to analyse the relation between governance issues and poverty, we need to have a variable to measure the living standard of citizens, are there are no questions on income and expenditures in this survey. We construct an asset index based on the ownership of different assets by households.This paper details the methodology used to calculate the asset index, the questions raised and how they are solved, and the results, with some empirical analysis of wealth distribution based on the new asset index.The main conclusion of this paper is that the asset index provides a rightful measurement for households’ wealth, which allows exploring the links between governance and poverty in Vietnam using the PAPI dataset. It considerably widens the scope of the survey by adding a key characteristic of the households that can be utilised for deeper analyses.