A subjective poverty line for Portugal

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to estimate a subjective poverty line for Portugal, using data collected by the PEO – Painel de Estudos Online of the Catolica Lisbon School of Business and Economics in March and November 2016. The analysis is based on a log-log regression for stated income needs (answer to a minimum income question) using as explanatory variables net monthly income, number of adults, number of children, and including a vector of other demographic characteristics of the household. After several attempts to include other variables concerning demographic characteristics in the model, it was possible to conclude that the only significant variables to add to the model would be a set of geographic dummies depending on the area of location of the household: North, Centre, South and Islands. Finally, two regressions were run, one without any demographic characteristics and one including the location dummies. In both regressions the answer to the Minimum Income Question depends positively on Net Monthly Income, the number of adults and the number of children living in the household. Using the second model it is also possible to conclude that the answer to Minimum Income Question also depends on the location of the household, and that the answers are higher in the South than in any other region.

Date of Award	8 Mar 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Miguel Gouveia (Supervisor)