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We analyze the effect on poverty of a significant increase in the minimum wage using a quasi-experimental situation in Mexico. In January 2019, the Mexican government announced an increase in the minimum wage: in most of the country it increased by 16 per cent, while in 43 municipalities along the U.S. border it increased by 100 per cent. Using household surveys and the official method for calculating labor income poverty, we implement difference-in-difference and synthetic control methodologies to estimate whether this policy affected poverty in Mexico. We find that poverty along the border decreased by 2.6–3.0 percentage points (11–13 per cent) due to the larger increase in the minimum wage. Poverty was reduced mainly by reducing the flow from non-poverty into poverty. However, poverty intensity increased, mainly because the policy did not affect the share of families without labor income among the poorest households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from a customised household survey in Tonga we assess the responsiveness of migrants' remittances to perceived needs of recipients. We extend a mixed-motives model, incorporating subjectively-assessed recipient welfare. We find evidence supportive of altruism for households below a subjective threshold, implying that remittances provide important social protection for the poor. We also find a positive relationship for those above the threshold implying that welfare improvements in migrant-sending countries could increase or decrease remittance flows depending on pre-transfer welfare level. The effects of remittances on poverty alleviation and income distribution are hence more complex and ambiguous than previous studies suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on household survey information, this study delineates the poverty profile of the elderly in 15 low-income sub-Saharan African countries which include countries with a high and low prevalence of the HIV-AIDS pandemic. The study shows that the poverty situation of the elderly living with children and the elderly-headed households is much worse than the average in many countries. The impact of providing a social pension to the elderly on group-specific and national poverty head-count ratios and poverty gap ratios, and its fiscal implications, are analysed. Simulating various plausible eligibility criteria and benefit levels, the study concludes that while the case for an universal (untargeted) social pension is weak, substantial welfare gains can be obtained at a low cost with a social pension targeted to the poor among the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]