Economic Growth and Poverty in the United States: Comparisons of Estimates Based Upon Official Poverty Statistics and Sen's Index of Poverty

Univ. of Alabama, Department of Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies, Working Paper No. 00-11-01

26 Pages Posted: 13 Nov 2000

See all articles by John P. Formby

John P. Formby

University of Alabama - Department of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies

Gary A. Hoover

University of Oklahoma

Kim Hoseong

University of Alabama - Department of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies

Date Written: November 2000

Abstract

This paper estimates income gap ratios and Gini coefficients of poor Americans and combines them with official U.S. government poverty statistics to create a new time series of Sen indices of poverty. The effects of growth and other determinants of aggregate poverty are investigated over the period 1961-1996. The results indicate that economic growth affects the Sen index and official poverty headcounts in essentially the same manner across time. The long economic expansion following the recession of 1981-1982 had much smaller poverty reducing effects than the expansion of the 1960s. In general, unemployment is a significant determinant of aggregate poverty, while the growth in per capita transfers to low income families and changes in the percent of families headed by females and never married females are insignificant.

JEL Classification: I32, I38

Suggested Citation

Formby, John P. and Hoover, Gary A. and Hoseong, Kim, Economic Growth and Poverty in the United States: Comparisons of Estimates Based Upon Official Poverty Statistics and Sen's Index of Poverty (November 2000). Univ. of Alabama, Department of Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies, Working Paper No. 00-11-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=249068 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.249068

John P. Formby

University of Alabama - Department of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies ( email )

P.O. Box 870244
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
United States
205-348-8667 (Phone)
205-348-0590 (Fax)

Gary A. Hoover (Contact Author)

University of Oklahoma ( email )

308 Cate Center Drive
Room 170
Norman, OK 73072-2103
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/garyhoovereconomics/economics-622

Kim Hoseong

University of Alabama - Department of Economics, Finance and Legal Studies ( email )

P.O. Box 870244
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
United States

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