Reports
Discussion Papers
No.382 Pro-poor Growth or Poverty Trap? : Estimating Intergenerational Income Mobility in Rural Philippines
by TAKAHASHI Kazushi
February 2013
ABSTRACT
Using
an
intergenerational
database
covering
nearly
a
quarter
of
a
century,
we
explored
the
degree
of
intergenerational
income
mobility
among
individuals
who
had
grown
up
in
rural
Central
Luzon,
the
Philippines.
We
found
that
the
intergenerational
income
elasticity
is
significantly
lower
than
unity,
at
roughly
0.23,
indicating
that
the
average
income
growth
rate
is
higher
for
children
born
to
poorer
families.
The
detailed
analysis,
however,
revealed
that
its
magnitude
significantly
varies
across
percentiles
in
a
U-shape.
The
results
provide
supporting
evidence
of
multiple
equilibria
or
poverty
trap.
Keywords:
Rural
Poverty,
Economic
Mobility,
the
Philippines
JEL
classification:
D31,
I30,
O12
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