PORESP · Poverty, Resource Equality, and Social Policies

This project aims at revisiting the economics of poverty by using recent advances in welfare economics. First, poverty measurement theory will be enriched by taking account of individual preferences over the several dimensions of poverty. New poverty indices will be defined. They will be applied using panel data of material standard of living and subjective satisfaction to study the recent evolution of poverty in developed societies. Second, the ethical value of poverty reduction will be added to theories of social welfare based on equality of opportunities. New evaluation criteria of taxation policies will be derived. These criteria will be applied to the design of fiscal reforms.