I think that the difference in income between “average” and “poorest of the poor” in these countries is probably no more than a factor of 2.
If you define “developing world” as “low-income countries” (GNI per capita up to $1,025), which is what GiveWell seems to do in its blog posts, then I think you’re probably right about this difference in income being no more than a factor of 2, but then I’d doubt that an average year of life in a low-income country is worth at least 1⁄3 that in the developed world. Also I think even a factor of 2 is a big deal when you’re talking about going from barely having enough to eat, to having half of your income available for making quality of life improvements.
On the other hand, if you define “developing world” as “low and middle income countries” (GNI per capita up to $12,475), which is what I had been assuming since that’s how the World Bank defines it, I can buy “at least 1/3” but I think the median income in those countries is probably between $5 and $10 per day, which is much more than twice that of the “poorest of the poor”.
If you define “developing world” as “low-income countries” (GNI per capita up to $1,025), which is what GiveWell seems to do in its blog posts, then I think you’re probably right about this difference in income being no more than a factor of 2, but then I’d doubt that an average year of life in a low-income country is worth at least 1⁄3 that in the developed world. Also I think even a factor of 2 is a big deal when you’re talking about going from barely having enough to eat, to having half of your income available for making quality of life improvements.
On the other hand, if you define “developing world” as “low and middle income countries” (GNI per capita up to $12,475), which is what I had been assuming since that’s how the World Bank defines it, I can buy “at least 1/3” but I think the median income in those countries is probably between $5 and $10 per day, which is much more than twice that of the “poorest of the poor”.