This paper shows how distance functions, a tool typically employed in production economics to measure the distance between a set of inputs and a set of outputs, can be employed to approximate a composite measure encompassing the many dimensions of well-being. It also illustrates how to implement...

Does predicted global warming imply more hunger in the future of Latin America? Climate projections prepared by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are briefly presented, along with an analysis of existing estimates of their probable impact on agriculture and food...

Different family types may have a fixed flow of consumption costs related to subsistence needs. We use a survey approach in order to identify and estimate such a fixed component of spending for different families. Our method involves making direct questions about the linkup between aggregate...

The multidimensional view of well-being is receiving growing attention, both in academic research and policy-oriented analysis. This paper examines empirical strategies to measure poverty and inequality in multiple domains, concentrating on two problems in the use of synthetic multidimensional...

Categorical essence, structure, and multilevel institutional and functional foundations of the welfare state are discovered in the monograph. Criteria, chronological limits, and content of the stages of arising, creation, development, and descend of the welfare state with accounting of modern...

The Greek crisis was the deepest and longest ever recorded in an OECD country in the postwar period. Output declined by over a quarter and disposable income by more than 40%, while the unemployment rate exceeded 27%. The paper explores the effects of the crisis on the level and the structure of...

This study investigated how low-income renters navigate the private rental sector (PRS) via three core pathways: the formal (via traditional or mainstream real estate agent intermediaries), informal (direct to rooms and dwellings privately managed by landlords and sub-landlords) and supported...

Imputed rental income of homeowners is tax exempt in most countries, despite the long-standing arguments recommending its inclusion in the tax base, on both equity and efficiency grounds. The current fiscal crisis revived interest towards this form of taxation. The paper investigates the fiscal...

We review the literature on the rich, the affluent and the top incomes earners focusing on the determinants of affluence or richness. The review surveys empirical results about the composition of the income and wealth of the rich and its direct determinants, such as individual characteristics,...

A new class of chronic poverty measures is constructed that builds upon Jalan and Ravallion (1998) but does not require resources in different periods to be perfect substitutes when identifying the chronically poor. We use a general mean to combine the resources of a person into a permanent...