ELASTICIDADE DA POBREZA EM RELAÇÃO À RENDA MÉDIA E À DESIGUALDADE

Abstract

The paper shows how to compute the elasticities of the poors head-count ratio (H) in relation to the mean income (() and in relation to the Gini index (G), assuming that the income distribution is lognormal, analysing how these poverty elasticities vary as functions of ( and G. The elasticities are computed for Brazil and its states in 1999, considering the distribution of per capita household income, comparing the results with those obtained by Marinho and Soares (2002) with other methodology. The two estimates show very similar patterns of variation between brazilian states. The obvious advantage of the method used in this paper is the possibility to compute the elasticities using only the values of ( and G for an income distribution. The elasticities are also computed for 2001 e 2002.