MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND THE SEN INDEX OF POVERTY: ESTIMATES BASED ON STATE DATA

The impacts of median income and other variables on the Sen index of poverty in the United States are investigated using panel data with fixed time period and cross sectional effects. Estimates for the Sen index and its decomposed components – the headcount ratio, poverty gap ratio, and Gini coefficient among the poor reveal that median income among state/regions and across time systematically influences the Sen index and each of its components. However, the results reveal that labor market and demographic control variables have quite different effects on the distinct components of the Sen index.