IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bog/wpaper/174.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Inequality, poverty and social welfare in Greece: distributional effects of austerity

Author

Listed:
  • Theodore Mitrakos

    (Bank of Greece)

Abstract

This paper presents the recent trends and the characteristics of inequality, poverty and living conditions in Greece, emphasising the distributional effects of the austerity measures adopted during the current economic crisis. Moreover, the decomposition analysis of the study examines the structure of inequality and the contribution of various income sources in overall inequality, while the main characteristics of the Greek social solidarity system and the poor distributional impact of social benefits are also discussed. To this end, household income from the Greek Household Budget and the EU Statistics of Income and Living Conditions surveys are used. The available data indicate that income inequality and relative poverty has increased, yet not dramatically, during the current crisis, although the composition of the poor population changed considerably. However, the sharp decline in disposable income and the dramatic increase in unemployment has led to a significant deterioration in economic prosperity and absolute poverty, i.e. when the poverty line in real terms remains stable in the pro-crisis levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodore Mitrakos, 2014. "Inequality, poverty and social welfare in Greece: distributional effects of austerity," Working Papers 174, Bank of Greece.
    • Handle: RePEc:bog:wpaper:174
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.bankofgreece.gr/BogEkdoseis/Paper2014174.pdf
    File Function: Full Text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul, Satya, 2004. "Income sources effects on inequality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 435-451, February.
    2. Manos Matsaganis & Chrysa Leventi, 2011. "The distributional impact of the crisis in Greece," DEOS Working Papers 1124, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    3. Tsakloglou, P. & Panopoulou, G., 1997. "Analysing Poverty Under Alternative Concepts of Resources and Equivalence Scales," Athens University of Economics and Business 97-08, Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of International and European Economic Studies.
    4. Antigone Lyberaki & Platon Tinios & Thomas Georgiadis, 2010. "Multidimensional Poverty in Greece: A Deep, Persistent Grey?," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 8(1), pages 87-110.
    5. Graham Pyatt & Chau-nan Chen & John Fei, 1980. "The Distribution of Income by Factor Components," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 95(3), pages 451-473.
    6. Shorrocks, A F, 1982. "Inequality Decomposition by Factor Components," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 193-211, January.
    7. Mitrakos Theodore, 2008. "Child Poverty: Recent Developments and Determinants," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 30, pages 57-85, May.
    8. Adams, Richard H. Jr. & He, Jane J., 1995. "Sources of income inequality and poverty in rural Pakistan:," Research reports 102, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Christodoulakis, Nicos & Leventi, Chrysa & Matsaganis, Manos & Monastiriotis, Vassilis, 2011. "The Greek crisis in focus: austerity, recession and paths to recovery," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 38380, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Theodore M. Mitrakos, 2004. "Education and economic inequalities," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 23, pages 27-46, July.
    11. Tsakloglou, Panos, 1993. "Aspects of inequality in Greece : Measurement, decomposition and intertemporal change: 1974, 1982," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 53-74, February.
    12. Panos Tsakloglou, 1990. "Aspects Of Poverty In Greece," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 36(4), pages 381-402, December.
    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. Eirini Andriopoulou & Eleni Kanavitsa & Panos Tsakloglou, 2019. "Decomposing Poverty in Hard Times: Greece 2007-2016," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 27(2), pages 125-168.
    2. Paraskevi Koufopoulou & Colin C. Williams & Athanassios Vozikis & Kyriakos Souliotis & Antonios Samprakos, 2021. "Estimating Shadow Economy Size in Greece 2000 - 2018: A Flexible MIMIC Approach," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 71(3-4), pages 23-47, July-Dece.
    3. Panagiotis ARTELARIS & George KANDYLIS, 2014. "Mapping Poverty At Regional Level In Greece," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 39, pages 131-147.
    4. Svetoslav Danchev & Georgios Gatopoulos & Niki Kalavrezou & Antonis Mavropoulos & Grigoris Pavlou & Nikolaos Vettas, 2024. "Equally poorer: inequality and the Greek debt crisis," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(3), pages 359-375, September.
    5. Kaplanoglou, Georgia, 2022. "Consumption inequality and poverty in Greece: Evidence and lessons from a decade-long crisis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 244-261.
    6. Marios-Georgios PSYCHALIS, 2020. "Euro Plus Pact: The Greek Case," Noble International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Noble Academic Publsiher, vol. 5(10), pages 102-124, October.
    7. George Petrakos & Kostas Rontos & Luca Salvati & Chara Vavoura & Ioannis Vavouras, 2024. "Income Inequality in the Over-Indebted Eurozone Countries and the Role of the Excessive Deficit Procedure," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 301-322, April.
    8. Mihaylova Svilena & Bratoeva-Manoleva Silviya, 2017. "Social Transfers and Income Inequality in Bulgaria," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 12(1), pages 38-49, April.
    9. Andriopoulou, Eirini & Karakitsios, Alexandros & Tsakloglou, Panos, 2017. "Inequality and poverty in Greece: Changes in times of crisis," GLO Discussion Paper Series 119, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Anastasia PANORI & Yannis PSYCHARIS, 2018. "The impact of the economic crisis on poverty and welfare in Athens," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 48, pages 23-40.
    11. Robert J. Kolesar & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Effect of Austerity Measures on Infant Mortality: Evidence from Greece," Papers 2407.17084, arXiv.org.
    12. Angelos Liontakis & Irene Tzouramani, 2016. "Economic Sustainability of Organic Aloe Vera Farming in Greece under Risk and Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-13, April.
    13. Apostolos Lagarias, 2023. "Impervious Land Expansion as a Control Parameter for Climate-Resilient Planning on the Mediterranean Coast: Evidence from Greece," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-25, September.
    14. Panagiotis Karountzos & Nikolaos T. Giannakopoulos & Damianos P. Sakas & Kyriaki I. Efthalitsidou & Stavros P. Migkos, 2024. "GINI’s Odyssey in Greece: Econometric Analysis of Income Inequality, GDP, and Unemployment Through Economic Phases (Pre-Crisis, Crisis, Memoranda, and Post-Memoranda)," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-19, December.
    15. Amparo Ba'illo & Javier C'arcamo & Carlos Mora-Corral, 2021. "Extremal points of Lorenz curves and applications to inequality analysis," Papers 2103.03286, arXiv.org.

    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. Yunbo Zhou, 2009. "The factors that impact income inequality of rural residents in China: Decomposing the Gini coefficient from income components," Frontiers of Economics in China, Springer;Higher Education Press, vol. 4(4), pages 617-632, December.
    2. Adams, Richard H., Jr., 1996. "Remittances, income distribution, and rural asset accumulation," FCND discussion papers 17, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Luca Giangregorio, 2024. "Welfare type and income inequality: an income source decomposition including in-kind benefits and cash-transfers entitlement," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(2), pages 367-403, April.
    4. Andriopoulou, Eirini & Karakitsios, Alexandros & Tsakloglou, Panos, 2017. "Inequality and poverty in Greece: Changes in times of crisis," GLO Discussion Paper Series 119, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Dimitra Aggelopoulou & Stavros Zografakis & Panayiotis Sypsas, 2011. "Distribution of poverty and inequality indices for various groups in Greece using the bootstrap technique," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 4(2), pages 81-97, August.
    6. Jurkatis, Simon & Strehl, Wolfgang, 2014. "Gini decompositions and Gini elasticities: On measuring the importance of income sources and population subgroups for income inequality," Discussion Papers 2014/22, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    7. Kimhi, Ayal, 2011. "Comment: On the Interpretation (and Misinterpretation) of Inequality Decompositions by Income Sources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1888-1890.
    8. Simon Jurkatis, "undated". "Dos and Don'ts of Gini Decompositions," BDPEMS Working Papers 2013003, Berlin School of Economics.
    9. Satya Paul & Zhao Chen & Ming Lu, 2017. "Contribution of household income components to the level and rise of inequality in urban China," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 212-226, April.
    10. Michele Giammatteo, 2007. "The bidimensional decomposition of inequality: A nested Theil approach," LIS Working papers 466, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    11. Kimhi, Ayal, 2009. "Land Reform and Farm-Household Income Inequality: The Case of Georgia," Discussion Papers 54159, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Agricultural Economics and Management.
    12. Yuwan Duan & Erik Dietzenbacher & Bart Los & Ruochen Dai, 2023. "Regional inequality in China during its rise as a giant exporter: A value chain analysis," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 148-172, January.
    13. Theodoros M. Mitrakos & George T. Simigiannis, 2009. "The determinants of Greek household indebtedness and financial stress," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 32, pages 7-26, May.
    14. von Witzke, Harald & Noleppa, Steffen, 2007. "Agricultural and Trade Policy Reform and Inequality: The Distributive Effects of Direct Payments to German Farmers under the EU's New Common Agricultural Policy," Working Paper Series 10289, Humboldt University Berlin, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    15. Sophia Lazaretou, 2014. "The smart economy: cultural and creative industries in Greece: can they be a way out of the crisis?," Economic Bulletin, Bank of Greece, issue 39, pages 73-103, July.
    16. Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Elsa Orgiazzi, 2013. "Factor Components of Inequality: A Cross-Country Study," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 59(4), pages 689-727, December.
    17. Cecilia Garcia Peñalosa & Orgiazzi, E., 2011. "GINI DP 12: Factor Components of Inequality. A Cross-Country Study," GINI Discussion Papers 12, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    18. Babulo, Bedru & Muys, Bart & Nega, Fredu & Tollens, Eric & Nyssen, Jan & Deckers, Jozef & Mathijs, Erik, 2009. "The economic contribution of forest resource use to rural livelihoods in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 123-131, March.
    19. Ivica Urban, 2009. "Kakwani decomposition of redistributive effect: Origins, critics and upgrades," Working Papers 148, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    20. Martin FOURNIER, 2001. "Inequality decomposition by factor component : a “rank-correlation” approach illustrated on the Taiwanese case," Discussion Papers (REL - Recherches Economiques de Louvain) 2001042, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; poverty; living conditions; redistribution impact;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

    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:bog:wpaper:174. 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: Anastasios Rizos (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/boggvgr.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.