The rich are just like us only richer: poverty functions or consumption functions?

ABSTRACT: The concept of a poverty function is introduced, modelling the shortfall of household consumption from the poverty line as a function of reduced form determinants such as human capital and land holdings. The model is estimated using a tobit and data from Uganda. Parameters from the model are found to be similar to those from consumption functions, indicating that the poor receive comparable rates of return on their assets to the non-poor. Education of both men and women appears to raise the welfare of the poor as well as the non-poor, in both urban and rural areas.