The Determinants of Poverty in Mexico: 1996

This study examines the determinants or correlates of poverty in México. The data used in the study come from the 2002 National Survey of Income and Expenditures of Households. Using the official extreme poverty line, a logistic regression model was estimated based on this data, with the probability of a household being extremely poor as the dependent variable and a set of economic and demographic variables as the explanatory variables. It was found that the variables that are positively correlated with the probability of being poor are: having a female household head, size of the household, living in a rural area, household head working in agriculture, working without remuneration and having a self-employed household head. Variables that are negatively correlated with the probability of being poor are: education level, age of the household head and whether the occupation of the household head is being a small entrepreneur or not.