期刊名称：Discussion Papers / Ibero America Institute for Economic Research (IAI)
出版年度：2006
卷号：2006
出版社：Ibero America Institute for Economic Research
摘要：We examine the impact of government transfers and the business
cycle on poverty in the United States in the context of a poverty function that
includes the official poverty rate, three types of government transfers, real
wages, the number of female-headed families, and a business cycle variable.
Using cointegration techniques, we find ─ contrary to most previous studies ─
that government transfer programs play an important poverty-reducing role. In
addition, the findings suggest that the business cycle is one of the key
variables in explaining poverty in the US. Furthermore, the empirical results
show that the size and composition of public transfer payments change over the
business cycle. We also find poverty to have a significant effect on government
transfers, the business cycle, and the structure of households.
