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The rich, the poor, and the middle class: Thresholds and intensity indices

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  • Eisenhauer, Joseph G.

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on the measurement of social classes by providing a wealth threshold for distinguishing the rich from the middle class and an intensity index for measuring the extent of affluence within a country. The empirical applicability of this approach is then illustrated with household-level survey data from the Bank of Italy; the results show an unambiguous decline in poverty and an increase in affluence in Italy between 2002 and 2004. Moreover, the findings indicate that social class is statistically linked to age, gender, marital status, household size, education, employment, and geography.

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  • Eisenhauer, Joseph G., 2011. "The rich, the poor, and the middle class: Thresholds and intensity indices," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 294-304, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:65:y:2011:i:4:p:294-304
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    Cited by:

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    3. Michal Brzezinski, 2011. "Variance Estimation for Richness Measures," LWS Working papers 11, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Lidia Ceriani & Paolo Verme, 2014. "The Income Lever and the Allocation of Aid," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(11), pages 1510-1522, November.
    5. Sadok, Moufida & Chatta, Rihab & Bednar, Peter, 2016. "ICT for development in Tunisia: “Going the last mile”," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 63-69.
    6. Vasiliy A. Anikin & Yulia P. Lezhnina & Svetlana V. Mareeva & Ekaterina D. Slobodenyuk & Nataliya N. Tikhonovà, 2016. "Income Stratification: Key Approaches and Their Application to Russia," HSE Working papers WP BRP 02/PSP/2016, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    7. Francesca Mariani & Mariateresa Ciommi & Francesco M. Chelli & Maria Cristina Recchioni, 2022. "An Iterative Approach to Stratification: Poverty at Regional Level in Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 873-903, June.
    8. Radhouane FILALI & Anis BOUABID, 2016. "Profils Et Déterminants Socioéconomiques De La Classe Moyenne En Tunisie," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 44, pages 79-101.
    9. Michal Brzezinski, 2014. "Statistical inference for richness measures," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(14), pages 1599-1608, May.
    10. Ekaterina D. Slobodenyuk & Svetlana V. Mareeva, 2020. "Relative Poverty in Russia: Evidence from Different Thresholds," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 135-153, August.

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