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Urban poverty: Theory and evidence from American cities

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Andreoli

    (Department of Economics (University of Verona))

  • Mauro Mussini

    (Department of Economics (University of Verona))

  • Vincenzo Prete

    (Department of Economics (University of Verona))

Abstract

The concentrated poverty index, i.e. the proportion of a metro area's poor population living in extreme-poverty neighborhoods, is widely adopted as a policy-relevant measure of urban poverty. We challenge this view and develop a family of new indices of urban poverty that, differently from concentrated poverty measures, i) capture aspects of the incidence and distribution of poverty across neighborhoods and ii) are grounded on empirical evidence that living in a high poverty neighborhood is detrimental for many dimensions of residents' well-being. We demonstrate that a parsimonious axiomatic model that incorporates these two aspects characterizes exactly one urban poverty index. We show that changes of this urban poverty index within the same city are additively decomposable into the contribution of demographic, convergence, re-ranking and spatial effects. We collect new evidence of heterogeneous patterns and trends of urban poverty across American metro areas over the last 35 years and use city characteristics to identify relevant drivers.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Andreoli & Mauro Mussini & Vincenzo Prete, 2019. "Urban poverty: Theory and evidence from American cities," Working Papers 08/2019, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:ver:wpaper:08/2019
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Concentrated poverty; axiomatic; decomposition; census; ACS; spatial;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C34 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • P25 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics

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