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Accounting for Poverty Differences between the United States, Great Britain, and Germany

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  • Martin Biewen
  • Stephen P. Jenkins

Abstract

We propose a framework for comparing the relationship between poverty and personal characteristics across countries (or across years), and use it to compare levels and patterns of relative poverty in the USA, Great Britain and Germany during the 1990s. The higher aggregate poverty rates in the USA and in Britain relative to Germany were mostly accounted for by higher poverty rates conditional on characteristics, which were only partly offset by a more favourable distribution of poverty-relevant characteristics, in particular higher employment rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Biewen & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2002. "Accounting for Poverty Differences between the United States, Great Britain, and Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 311, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp311
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jantti, Markus & Danziger, Sheldon, 2000. "Income poverty in advanced countries," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 309-378, Elsevier.
    2. F. Chantreuil & A. Trannoy, 1999. "Inequality decomposition values : the trade-off between marginality and consistency," THEMA Working Papers 99-24, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    3. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    4. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    5. Singh, S K & Maddala, G S, 1976. "A Function for Size Distribution of Incomes," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(5), pages 963-970, September.
    6. P. Jenkins, Stephen & Schluter, Christian, 2001. "Why are child poverty rates higher in Britain than in Germany? a longitudinal perspective -working paper-," ISER Working Paper Series 2001-16, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    7. James B. McDonald, 2008. "Some Generalized Functions for the Size Distribution of Income," Economic Studies in Inequality, Social Exclusion, and Well-Being, in: Duangkamon Chotikapanich (ed.), Modeling Income Distributions and Lorenz Curves, chapter 3, pages 37-55, Springer.
    8. Gottschalk, Peter & Danziger, Sheldon, 1985. "A Framework for Evaluating the Effects of Economic Growth and Transfers on Poverty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 153-161, March.
    9. Stephen Pudney, 1999. "On Some Statistical Methods for Modelling the Incidence of Poverty," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(3), pages 385-408, August.
    10. Stephen Howes & Jean Olson Lanjouw, 1998. "Does Sample Design Matter For Poverty Rate Comparisons?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 44(1), pages 99-109, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert G. Valletta, 2004. "The ins and outs of poverty in advanced economies: poverty dynamics in Canada, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States," Working Paper Series 2004-18, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    2. Francisco Azpitarte, 2011. "Measurement and identification of asset-poor households: a cross-national comparison of Spain and the United Kingdom," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 9(1), pages 87-110, March.
    3. Callan, Tim & Keeney, Mary J. & Nolan, Brian & Maitre, Bertrand, 2004. "Why is Relative Income Poverty so High in Ireland?," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number PRS53.
    4. Francisco Azpitarte, 2008. "Measurement and Identification of Asset-Poor Households: A Cross-National Comparison of Spain and the United Kingdom," Working Papers 105, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    5. Callan, Tim & Nolan, Brian & Walsh, John R. & Whelan, Christopher T. & Maitre, Bertrand, 2008. "Tackling Low Income and Deprivation: Developing Effective Policies," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS1.
    6. Francisco Azpitarte, 2014. "Measurement and Identification of Asset-Poor Households: A Cross-National Comparison of Spain and the United Kingdom," LWS Working papers 17, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty; Singh-Maddala Distribution;

    JEL classification:

    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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