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The Redistributive Impact of the Guaranteed Minimum Income Programme in Portugal

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  • Carlos Farinha Rodrigues

Abstract

In this paper we evaluate the impact of the Portuguese Guaranteed Minimum Income Programme (GMI) on the income distribution in Portugal, and discuss its effectiveness and efficiency in fighting poverty and social exclusion in the country. We measure its impact on the distribution of household incomes and poverty, as well as the amount of government expenditure required to finance it. Our results show that 5.3% of households and 6.5% of the population are eligible to receive GMI. The programme has a small but positive impact on reducing inequality. Furthermore, the analysis of the effectiveness of the GMI shows that it has a positive impact on reducing the poverty rate. However, the most important consequence of the GMI is the sharp improvements in the measures of poverty intensity and severity. The efficiency indicators associated with the programme show that 92% of the transfers are awarded to poor people and that 89% of the transfers effectively contribute towards reducing the poverty gap. A very preliminary assessment of the take-up associated with the program shows that only 72 per cent of the families entitled to receive benefits from the programme are actually receiving it.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos Farinha Rodrigues, 2004. "The Redistributive Impact of the Guaranteed Minimum Income Programme in Portugal," Working Papers Department of Economics 2004/09, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    • Handle: RePEc:ise:isegwp:wp92004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-766, May.
    2. Miguel Gouveia & Carlos Farinha Rodrigues, "undated". "The impact of a "Minimum Guaranteed Income Program" in Portugal," Working Papers Department of Economics 1999/03, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    3. Beckerman, W, 1979. "The Impact of Income Maintenance Payments on Poverty in Britain, 1975," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 89(354), pages 261-279, June.
    4. Atkinson, Anthony B., 1970. "On the measurement of inequality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 244-263, September.
    5. repec:bla:revinw:v:30:y:1984:i:3:p:351-75 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Frank A. Cowell, 1984. "The Structure Of American Income Inequality," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 30(3), pages 351-375, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    1. Portuguese drug policy shows that decriminalisation can work, but only with other policies.
      by Blog Admin in EUROPP European Politics and Policy on 2012-12-10 13:30:22

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lucía Gorjón García & Antonio Villar, 2019. "The Minimum Income Scheme as a poverty reduction mechanism:the case of the Basque Country," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2019-10, FEDEA.
    2. Ayala, Luis & Rodriguez, Magdalena, 2006. "The latin model of welfare: Do `insertion contracts' reduce long-term dependence?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 799-822, December.
    3. Marjan Petreski & Nikica Mojsoska-Blazevski, 2017. "Overhaul of the social assistance system in Macedonia: Simulating the effects of introducing Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) scheme," Finance Think Policy Studies 2017-11, Finance Think - Economic Research and Policy Institute.
    4. Marjan Petreski & Nikica Mojsoska Blazevski, 2017. "Overhaul of the social assistance system in Macedonia: Simulating the effects of introducing Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) scheme," Finance Think Policy Studies 2017-11/11, Finance Think - Economic Research and Policy Institute.
    5. Vassiliki Koutsogeorgopoulou & Manos Matsaganis & Chrysa Leventi & Jan-David Schneider, 2014. "Fairly Sharing the Social Impact of the Crisis in Greece," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1106, OECD Publishing.
    6. Anna Laura Mancini, 2007. "Labor supply responses of Italian women to minimum income policies," CHILD Working Papers wp14_07, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY.
    7. Cláudia Costa & Paula Santana, 2021. "Gender and Age Differences in Socio‐economic Inequalities in Total and Avoidable Mortality in Portugal: A Trend Analysis," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 123-145, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income Distribution; Inequality; Poverty Alleviation; Social Policy; Portugal.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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