IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp779.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Who Are the Chronic Poor? Evidence on the Extent and the Composition of Chronic Poverty in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Biewen, Martin

    (University of Tuebingen)

Abstract

Based on a multiple spells approach, this paper studies the extent and the composition of chronic poverty in Germany. The results indicate that about one third of cross-sectional poverty in a given year is chronic. The characteristics that are most closely associated with long-term poverty are economic inactivity and pensioner status, while the number of children and the gender of the household head do not seem to have a systematic effect. This is in contrast to cross-sectional results where the biggest poverty risk is usually unemployment and a large number of children, while pensioners do not face particularly high poverty risks. Estimates from a multiple spells hazard model further suggest that 6% of the population have unobserved characteristics that lead to low poverty exit and high re-entry rates, making these individuals likely candidates for chronic poverty. A comparison with results for Great Britain and the United States suggests that poverty is less persistent in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Biewen, Martin, 2003. "Who Are the Chronic Poor? Evidence on the Extent and the Composition of Chronic Poverty in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 779, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp779
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp779.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heckman, James & Singer, Burton, 1984. "A Method for Minimizing the Impact of Distributional Assumptions in Econometric Models for Duration Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 271-320, March.
    2. Meghir, Costas & Whitehouse, Edward, 1997. "Labour market transitions and retirement of men in the UK," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 327-354, August.
    3. Biewen Martin, 2005. "The Covariance Structure of East and West German Incomes and its Implications for the Persistence of Poverty and Inequality," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 6(4), pages 445-469, December.
    4. Francesco Devicienti, 2011. "Estimating poverty persistence in Britain," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 657-686, May.
    5. Mary Jo Bane & David T. Ellwood, 1986. "Slipping into and out of Poverty: The Dynamics of Spells," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 21(1), pages 1-23.
    6. Martin Biewen, 2002. "The covariance structure of east and west German incomes and its implications for the persistence of inequality and poverty," 10th International Conference on Panel Data, Berlin, July 5-6, 2002 B2-2, International Conferences on Panel Data.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Catherine Pollak & Bernard Gazier, 2008. "L'apport des analyses longitudinales dans la connaissance des phénomènes de pauvreté et d'exclusion sociale : un survey de la littérature étrangère," Post-Print hal-00393322, HAL.
    2. Michael Fertig & Marcus Tamm, 2010. "Always Poor or Never Poor and Nothing in Between? Duration of Child Poverty in Germany," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 11(2), pages 150-168, May.
    3. Marjan, MAES, 2008. "Poverty persistence among Belgian elderly in the transition from work to retirement : an empirical analysis," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2008042, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
    4. Anna Sączewska-Piotrowska, 2016. "Badanie dynamiki ubóstwa gospodarstw domowych z wykorzystaniem wybranych modeli analizy historii zdarzeń," Collegium of Economic Analysis Annals, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis, issue 41, pages 29-46.
    5. Hansen, Jörgen & Wahlberg, Roger, 2004. "Poverty Persistence in Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 1209, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Aysenur Acar & Cem Baslevent, 2014. "Examination of the Transitions of Households into and out of Poverty in Turkey," Working Papers 015, Bahcesehir University, Betam.
    7. Natalia Nehrebecka & Agata Kocia, 2009. "Analysis of poverty in Poland in 1997 - 2000 using hazard models," Working Papers 2009-09, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    8. Patricio S. Dalton & Sayantan Ghosal & Anandi Mani, 2016. "Poverty and Aspirations Failure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 165-188, February.
    9. Wan-Lin Chiang & Tung-liang Chiang, 2018. "Risk Factors for Persistent Child Poverty during the First Five Years of Life in Taiwan Birth Cohort Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(3), pages 885-896, June.
    10. Andriopoulou, Eirini & Tsakloglou, Panagiotis, 2011. "The determinants of poverty transitions in Europe and the role of duration dependence," MPRA Paper 30659, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Jorgen Hansen & Roger Wahlberg, 2009. "Poverty and its persistence: a comparison of natives and immigrants in Sweden," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 105-132, June.
    12. Ayşenur Acar & Cem Baslevent, 2013. "Examination of the transition of Turkish households into and out of poverty between 2007-2010," EcoMod2013 5779, EcoMod.
    13. Islam, Nizamul & Shimeles, Abebe, 2007. "Poverty dynamics in Ethiopia: state dependence," Working Papers in Economics 260, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    14. Maes, Marjan, 2008. "Poverty persistence among Belgian elderly: true or spurious?," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-24, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    15. Michael Fertig & Marcus Tamm, 2010. "Always Poor or Never Poor and Nothing in Between? Duration of Child Poverty in Germany," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 11(2), pages 150-168, May.
    16. Mathilde Clément, 2014. "Mieux comprendre les facteurs de risque de pauvreté en conditions de vie en contrôlant les caractéristiques inobservées fixes," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 469(1), pages 37-59.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francesco Devicienti, 2011. "Estimating poverty persistence in Britain," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 657-686, May.
    2. Marjan, MAES, 2008. "Poverty persistence among Belgian elderly in the transition from work to retirement : an empirical analysis," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2008042, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
    3. Maes, Marjan, 2008. "Poverty persistence among Belgian elderly: true or spurious?," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-24, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    4. Martin Biewen, 2005. "The Covariance Structure of East and West German Incomes and its Implications for the Persistence of Poverty and Inequality," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 6(4), pages 445-469, November.
    5. Iryna Kyzyma, 2014. "Changes in the Patterns of Poverty Duration in Germany, 1992–2009," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S2), pages 305-331, November.
    6. Hansen, Jörgen & Wahlberg, Roger, 2004. "Poverty Persistence in Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 1209, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. KYZYMA Iryna, 2013. "Changes in the patterns of poverty duration in Germany, 1992-2009," LISER Working Paper Series 2013-06, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    8. Iryna Kyzyma & Donald R. Williams, 2017. "Public cash transfers and poverty dynamics in Europe," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 485-524, March.
    9. Islam, Nizamul & Shimeles, Abebe, 2007. "Poverty dynamics in Ethiopia: state dependence," Working Papers in Economics 260, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    10. Francesco Devicienti & Valentina Gualtieri & Mariacristina Rossi, 2014. "The Persistence Of Income Poverty And Lifestyle Deprivation: Evidence From Italy," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 246-278, July.
    11. Sara Ayllón, 2013. "Understanding poverty persistence in Spain," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 201-233, June.
    12. Alma Kudebayeva, 2018. "Chronic Poverty in Kazakhstan," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp627, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    13. Jorgen Hansen & Roger Wahlberg, 2009. "Poverty and its persistence: a comparison of natives and immigrants in Sweden," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 105-132, June.
    14. Elena Casquel & Antoni Cunyat, "undated". "The Welfare Cost of Business Cycles in an Economy with Nonclearing Markets," Working Papers 2005-19, FEDEA.
    15. Lori J. Curtis & Kate Rybczynski, 2014. "Exiting Poverty: Does Sex Matter?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 40(2), pages 126-142, June.
    16. Arne Bigsten & Abebe Shimeles, 2011. "The persistence of urban poverty in Ethiopia: a tale of two measurements," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(9), pages 835-839.
    17. Michael Fertig & Marcus Tamm, 2010. "Always Poor or Never Poor and Nothing in Between? Duration of Child Poverty in Germany," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 11(2), pages 150-168, May.
    18. H. W. Hoynes, "undated". "Does welfare play any role in female headship decisions?," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1078-95, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    19. Thomas Raferzeder & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2007. "Who is on the rise in Austria: Wage mobility and mobility risk," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 5(1), pages 39-51, April.
    20. Haardt, David, 2006. "Transitions out of and back to employment among older men and women in the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2006-20, Institute for Social and Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    unobserved heterogeneity; chronic poverty; poverty persistence; multiple spells;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp779. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.