A Comparative Study of Poverty Trap in Academic Generations in Iran

Education is one of the most important factors in economic development that has a major impact on the alleviation of poverty and inequality. Since education, as one of the most effective factors in economic development, can play a significant role in increasing welfare, this study aims to examine the impact of education on probability of poverty trap occurrence in income dynamics in Iran. Poverty trap is a self-reinforcing process that leads to poverty continuance. In fact, poverty traps reproduce and perpetuate poverty, and the economy is caught in a vicious circle, in which poverty grows and a more favorable situation is created for the incidence of poverty. In this paper, due to shortage of panel data, semi-panel data have been used. The performance tracking of each generation over the time is the characteristics of these data. The results indicate that in both generation groups on average, income level of householders is not within the poverty trap.