A Survey of Infaq's Impact on Poverty Reduction in Iran

Our main goal in this article is to examine Infaq's impact on poverty reduction in Iran. For measuring Infaq, we have used the number of mawqufahs and the total sum paid to Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, and for measuring poverty line, we have used the basic needs approach and the cost of a food basket equal to 2080 kilocalories per person per day and its average price in the provinces. We have also used the data at province level for the period 2000-2009.The analyses have been done using the panel data econometric method. The findings suggest that Infaq through Relief Foundation does have an impact of poverty reduction, but the growth of the number of mawqufahs has not had a significant impact in this regard. Another finding of this research is that the reduction of unemployment and inflation has a positive significant relation with poverty reduction in Iran.