The Measurement of Subsistence in Iranian Rural Households over 1989-2013

In economic literature, subsistence is defined implicitly as a poverty line and the first step for the poverty alleviation is to measure the subsistence (poverty line). In this study, the subsistence of Iranian rural households was estimated by the theory of relative habit of formation linear expenditure system (RHLES) and by using data of household's expenditure for 8 commodity-groups over the periods of 1989-2013. Then, the position of poverty in rural regions was calculated by the indicators of head-count ratio, poverty gap and Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT). The results showed the poverty line in the studied households had a decreasing trend and the quantity of poverty indicesreduced during the five Economic Development Plans. Thus, the government policies for the reduction of relative poverty in rural regions were found successful.