Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
We identify an information basis that is necessary and sufficient for a local equivalence scale, constructed using the indifference surface associated with a poverty level of well-being. It makes less restrictive assumptions about preferences for households with different characteristics than widely used approaches to this problem. Our approach is best suited for poverty comparisons, where calibration of means-tested transfers for different households is an important practical problem.