The Dynamics of Poverty and its Determinants: The Case of the Northeast of Brazil and its States
In the northeast region of Brazil, the poverty picture of the past two decades reveals large fluctuations in the poverty level, and poverty depth. Findings based on the Brazilian annual household survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Amostra Domiciliar, PNA...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, D.C.
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/04/3179883/dynamics-poverty-determinants-case-northeast-brazil-states http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14833 |
| Summary: | In the northeast region of Brazil, the
poverty picture of the past two decades reveals large
fluctuations in the poverty level, and poverty depth.
Findings based on the Brazilian annual household survey
(Pesquisa Nacional de Amostra Domiciliar, PNAD) datasets
from 1981-99 reveal that individual characteristics such as
education, experience, and labor market association of the
household head are important correlates of poverty. Taking
these into account, data reveal that a Nordestino
(northeasterner) is 24 percentage points more likely to fall
below the indigent poverty line than other Brazilians.
Analyses also reveal large differences in poverty levels by
education, and these differences have increased over time.
The authors observe that the probability of being poor is
decreasing with increasing educational attainment. The
gender of the household head does not matter for poverty,
according to the poverty profile. But when the authors
control for education and other individual characteristics,
female-headed households have a much larger likelihood of
being poor than male-headed households. Household size also
matters for poverty. Larger households are more likely to
experience poverty than smaller households, and the effect
is concave. Moreover, households with children under age 5
appear more likely to fall below the poverty line, than
families with no children below age 5. The presence of
old-aged people (above 65 years) in the household is an
important factor contributing to poverty reduction. |
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