New directions in the analysis of inequality and poverty

Over the last four decades, academic and wider public interest in inequality and poverty has grown substantially. In this paper we address the question: what have been the major new directions in the analysis of inequality and poverty over the last thirty to forty years? We draw attention to developments under seven headings: changes in the extent of inequality and poverty, changes in the policy environment, increased scrutiny of the concepts of ‘poverty’ and inequality’ and the rise of multidimensional approaches, the use of longitudinal perspectives, an increase in availability of and access to data, developments in analytical methods of measurement, and developments in modelling

Review of Maximum Likelihood Estimation with Stata by Gould, Pitblado, and Sribney

The new book by Gould, Pitblado, and Sribney (2003) is reviewed. Copyright 2003 by StataCorp LP.maximum likelihood, Stata programming

An experimental AWTS process and comparisons of ONERA T2 and 0.3-m TCT AWTS data for the ONERA CAST-10 aerofoil

An experimental Adaptive Wall Test Section (AWTS) process is described. Comparisons of the ONERA T2 and the 0.3-m TCT (transonic cryogenic tunnel) AWTS data for the ONERA CAST-10 airfoil are presented. Most of the 0.3-m TCT data is new and preliminary and no sidewall boundary layer control is involved. No conclusions are given

Quenched Chiral Perturbation Theory for Baryons

We develop quenched chiral perturbation theory for baryons using the graded-symmetry formalism of Bernard and Golterman and calculate non-analytic contributions to the baryon masses coming from quenched chiral loops. The usual term proportional to $m_{q}^{3/2}$ is substantially altered due to the cancellation of diagrams with internal quark loops. In addition, the $\eta'$ ``hairpin'' vertex leads to a new correction, proportional to $m_{q}^{1/2}$. We compare our results to numerical lattice data and use them to estimate the size of the quenching error in the octet baryon masses.Comment: 7 pages (An abridged version of this note will appear in the proceedings of Lattice'93. Latex + 14 postscript files, bundled using uufiles. Needs psfig.) UW/PT-93-0

Panphasia: a user guide

We make a very large realisation of a Gaussian white noise field, called PANPHASIA, public by releasing software that computes this field. Panphasia is designed specifically for setting up Gaussian initial conditions for cosmological simulations and resimulations of structure formation. We make available both software to compute the field itself and codes to illustrate applications including a modified version of a public serial initial conditions generator. We document the software and present the results of a few basic tests of the field. The properties and method of construction of Panphasia are described in full in a companion paper Jenkins 2013.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Software to calculate Panphasia is available from: http://icc.dur.ac.uk/Panphasia.ph

The Dynamics of Social Assistance Receipt: Measurement and Modelling Issues, with an Application to Britain

We model the dynamics of social assistance benefit receipt in Britain using data from the British Household Panel Survey, waves 1–15. First, we discuss definitions of social assistance benefit receipt, and present information about the trends between 1991 and 2005 in the receipt of social assistance benefits, and in annual rates of transition into and out of receipt. Second, we review potential multivariate modelling approaches especially the dynamic random effects probit models that are used in our empirical analysis and, third, discuss sample selection criteria and explanatory variables. Fourth, we present our regression estimation estimates and interpret them. The final section contains a summary of the substantive results, and highlights some lessons concerning application of the analysis for other countries and some methodological issues.social assistance, welfare benefits, dynamic random effects probit, income dynamics

The Intergeneratinal Transmission of Poverty in Industrialized Countries

This paper reviews research about the intergenerational transmission of poverty in industrialized countries. In order to make our survey manageable, we restrict attention to studies that consider the relationship between parental poverty (or 'income') during childhood and later-life outcomes; we do not explicitly consider the impact of other family background variables such as parental education. The general message is that growing up poor has a deleterious impact on later-life chances, and that this impact is not wholly explained by other factors that are themselves correlated with childhood poverty. At the same time, the studies also show that one should be cautious about drawing more specific conclusions. For example, the degree of intergenerational persistence appears to vary depending on the definition of the outcome variable, and different estimation methods provide a range of estimates. In addition, most of re-search about intergenerational links has been undertaken using US data, and it is not clear that any specific conclusions should carry over to another country with very different social norms and institutions including e.g. differences in labour market regulation, and in systems of edu-cation and social security benefits. However we conclude that, broadly speaking, the analyti-cal framework that has been used for high-income countries can also be applied to low-income countries.Poverty, intergenerational transmission, mobility, family background, income, industrialized countries

Accounting for Poverty Differences between the United States, Great Britain, and Germany

We propose a framework for comparing the relationship between poverty and personal characteristics across countries (or across years), and use it to compare levels and patterns of relative poverty in the USA, Great Britain and Germany during the 1990s. The higher aggregate poverty rates in the USA and in Britain relative to Germany were mostly accounted for by higher poverty rates conditional on characteristics, which were only partly offset by a more favourable distribution of poverty-relevant characteristics, in particular higher employment rates.Poverty, Singh-Maddala Distribution

Modelling Low Income Transitions

We examine the determinants of low income transitions using first-order Markov models that control for initial conditions effects (those found to be poor in the base year may be a nonrandom sample) and for attrition (panel retention may also be non-random). Our econometric model is a form of endogeneous switching regression, and is fitted using simulated maximum likelihood methods. The estimates, derived from British panel data for the 1990s, indicate that there is substantial genuine state dependence in poverty. We also provide estimates of low income transition rates and lengths of poverty and non-poverty spells for persons of different types.'Modelling low income transitions'