The Use of the Heckman model In analyzing the main determinants of Poverty Gap in Iran

The Poverty measurement and its determinants are most important factors in poverty alleviation programs. In this survey, we estimate poverty line by using An Implicitly Directly Additive Demand System. This study used household data from the Statistics Center of Iran during the period of 1998-2009. We examine the main determinants of poverty Gap and the chance of being poverty for urban and rural households by Hechman model estimation.The results of Probit model revealed that age, level of educational attainment and the main activity of the head of the household, literacy rate of the household, Household size and ICT indices are the main determinants of chance of being poor. Also the results of OLS model show that Literacy rate and ratio of employees of the household, gender and level of educational attainment of the head of the household and source of income of the household are the main determinants of poverty Gap.