Abstract
We analyze the anti-poverty effect of social cash transfers using a micro-econometric approach.
Aggregate analyses, based on comparing average poverty indicators before and after public transfers,
fail to address who receives the transfers and how the transfers are distributed among the poor. We
consider three dichotomous outcome variables: (i) poverty status before the receipt of transfers; (ii)
the receipt of transfers; and (iii) poverty status after the receipt of transfers. We use a trivariate probit
model with sample selection, connecting the outcome variables to the characteristics of the household
and its head. Our empirical results highlight that the Italian social transfers system overprotects certain
household typologies at the expense of others, as social transfers are primarily awarded to employees
with permanent positions and the elderly, while the system is not generous enough to large households
with dependant children, the self-employed, temporary contract workers, and the unemployed.
Lingua originale | English |
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pagine (da-a) | 1-26 |
Numero di pagine | 26 |
Rivista | THE REVIEW OF INCOME AND WEALTH |
DOI | |
Stato di pubblicazione | Pubblicato - 2013 |
Keywords
- cash transfers
- pre/post-transfers poverty
- sample selection
- trivariate probit