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Subjective equivalence scales in Eastern versus Western European countries

We show that economies of scale estimated individually for each EU country differ from the officially adopted OECD‐modified scale the differences across the countries further confirm the prevailing East‐West disparity. Using the minimum income question in the 2019 EU‐Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey, we demonstrate that applying the estimated country-specific subjective equivalence scales, instead of the uniform OECD-modified scale, results in up to a 6 pp change in the at‐risk‐of‐…

Topics: European Union, Wages and Incomes, Standard of Living

Publication Type: Article with impact factor

Department: Economic and Religious Studies

Trends in subjective income poverty rates in the European Union

When developing anti-poverty policies, policymakers need accurate data on the prevalence of poverty. In this paper, we focus on subjective poverty, a concept which has been largely neglected in the literature, though it remains a conceptually appealing way to define poverty. The primary goal of this study is to re-examine the concept of subjective poverty measurement and to estimate trends in subjective income poverty rates in the European Union. Our estimations are based on a Minimum Income Question using dat…

Topics: European Union, Wages and Incomes, Standard of Living

Publication Type: Article with impact factor

Department: Economic and Religious Studies

Equivalence scale and income poverty: Two approaches how to estimate country-specific scale for the Czech Republic

The at-risk-of-poverty rate, the relative income poverty indicator applied in the EU, can be highly sensitive to the equivalence scale used to transform household income to an equivalent for individuals. This study applies two well-established approaches to estimate the equivalence scale: an ‘objective’ one, based on consumption expenditures available in the national Household Budget Survey, and a ‘subjective’ one, based on the Minimum Income Question available in EU–Statistics on Income and Living C…

Topics: Wages and Incomes, Standard of Living

Publication Type: Article with impact factor

Department: Economic and Religious Studies

Estimating subjective poverty lines with discrete information

This paper proposes a novel methodology for the estimation of subjective poverty lines (SPLs) using a discrete information approach that obviates the potential discomfort of asking respondents directly about the value of their individual SPL. To estimate income SPLs, we utilize the Youden index. Using a simulated data-set, we first show that the level of bias between the estimated SPLs and their corresponding actual values is low. Next, we demonstrate an application of the proposed methodology to the EU-SILC 2…

Topics: Social Inequalities, Standard of Living

Publication Type: Article with impact factor

Department: Economic and Religious Studies

Choosing an optimal material deprivation indicator threshold

Severe material deprivation, a dimension of the poverty and social exclusion index, one of Europe 2020 Strategy headline indicators, is defined as enforced lack of at least four of nine specific items. Proposals for modifications in the indicator include the Material and Social Deprivation indicator which is based on an updated set of thirteen items, whereas the choice of the threshold was data-driven. This paper proposes a simple, yet a rigorous methodology based on the Youden index to set a threshold to clas…

Topics: Social Inequalities, Standard of Living

Publication Type: Article with impact factor

Department: Economic and Religious Studies

Subjective equivalence scales and income poverty in Eastern vs Western European countries

This study uses the intersection approach to estimate Subjective Poverty Lines and implicit subjective equivalence scales for European countries. The subjective poverty lines are derived from the Minimum Income Question included in the 2017 EU–Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data. Subjective equivalence scales differ across the European region, showing lower economies of scale for Eastern European countries. When the estimated subjective equivalence scales are applied to derive the official at-ris…

Topics: Standard of Living

Publication Type: Working Paper

Department: Economic and Religious Studies

On the Measurement of the Income Poverty Rate: The Equivalence Scale across Europe

The methodology used to determine the at-risk-of-poverty rate commonly applied in the European context is often criticised for arbitrary steps in its construction. This study questions the first step – the equivalence scale applied to transform the disposable income of households of different sizes into comparable units. First, we hypothesise that economies of scale are lower in Central-Eastern European countries than in their Western counterparts. We assess the hypothesis using a simple descriptive analysis…

Topics: Standard of Living

Publication Type: Peer-reviewed article

Department: Economic and Religious Studies

Regional Patterns of Social Differentiation in Visegrád Countries

This paper focuses on a neglected—horizontal—dimension of social stratification. It examines the patterns of social differentiation in the Visegrad countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) and attempts to assess changes in the social structure at the subnational level. Social structure changes are explained within the context of broader socio-economic development. The main analyses performed in this study are based on EU-SILC micro-data covering 2006–2016 and offer a comprehensive pe…

Topics: City and Village, Wages and Incomes, Work, Regions, Social Inequalities, Education

Publication Type: Article with impact factor

Department: Economic and Religious Studies

Subjective Perceptions of Poverty and Objective Economic Conditions: Czechia and Slovakia a Quarter Century After the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia

Studies into the relation between subjective perceptions of individuals and objective economic conditions have usually resulted in ambiguous empirical findings. Whilst most studies perceive subjective welfare as being operationalized by indicators of happiness or life satisfaction, we narrow the approach to an economic domain of subjective well-being— perceptions of poverty. We argue that our approach better reflects the economic dimension, as the former may include numerous non-economic domains. We use a ca…

Topics: Standard of Living

Publication Type: Article with impact factor

Department: Economic and Religious Studies