Asymmetric effect of tax systems on poverty and inequality: Exploring the distributional impact of domestic resource mobilization systems in Ghana

Figures & data

Table 1. Data description and sources

Variable	Description	Symbol	Data Source
Poverty incidence	Poverty incidence at U.S $3.50	POV	WDI
Poverty gap	Poverty gap at the U.S $3.50 line	GAP	WDI
Squared poverty gap	Squared poverty gap at the U.S $3.50 line	SGAP	WDI
Relative poverty	Historical human development index based on the average achievement in the three dimensions of human development such as having a decent standard of living, a long life and healthy life, and being knowledgeable.	HHDI	Our World in Data
Inequality	Gini index computed as the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line.	GI	WDI
Indirect tax	Indirect tax as a percentage of GDP	IT	ICTD
Direct tax	Direct tax as a percentage of GDP	DT	ICTD
Total tax	Total tax as a percentage of GDP	TT	ICTD
GDP per capita	Real GDP per capita. It is calculated in constant 2010 US dollars.	GDPPC	WDI
Agriculture value additions	Agriculture value added as a percentage of GDP. It includes forestry, hunting, and fishing, as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production.	AG	WDI
Total government expenditure	Government of Ghana consumption and capital expenditure.	GEX	Ministry of Finance, Ghana
Gold price	Price per ounce of Gold	GP	Bank of Ghana
Cocoa price	Price per ton of cocoa in the world market.	CP	Bank of Ghana
Minimum wage	Daily minimum wage of Ghana.	MW	Wage Indicator Network
Inflation	Consumer price index (2010 = 100)	CPI	WDI

Source: Authors’ construct, 2022

Table 2. Descriptive statistics

	AG	GI	GEX	POV	GAP	SQGAP	GDPPC	GP	HHDI	CP	MW	IT	DT	TT	CPI
Mean	36.346	39.812	6808.337	61.482	27.311	827.321	1058.828	605.746	1.394	1855.342	1.544	0.070	0.033	0.103	24.794
Median	36.280	40.679	626.481	63.300	28.100	789.610	963.6078	384.810	1.482	1682.895	0.355	0.070	0.030	0.010	17.743
Maximum	59.731	43.500	51,125.040	78.600	37.500	1406.250	1659.484	1678.820	1.588	3301.000	8.000	0.101	0.065	0.155	122.875
Minimum	20.000	31.314	1.509	30.500	11.100	123.210	701.536	248.440	0.576	794.640	0.003	0.022	0.006	0.028	7.126
Std. Dev.	10.101	3.335	12,598.27	16.007	9.160	462.257	294.761	405.701	0.305	637.443	2.219	0.018	0.017	0.033	21.120
Skewness	0.090	−0.975	2.172	−0.658	−0.526	−0.155	0.928	1.363	−2.261	0.486	1.563	−0.541	0.377	−0.244	3.164
Kurtosis	2.420	2.927	6.870	2.211	1.999	1.636	2.621	3.654	6.339	2.347	4.367	3.174	1.959	2.193	14.880
Jarque-Bera	0.523	5.395	47.934	3.333	2.986	2.771	5.082	11.139	44.773	1.943	16.496	1.701	2.343	1.259	256.688
Probability	0.770	0.067	0.000	0.189	0.225	0.250	0.079	0.004	0.000	0.379	0.000	0.427	0.310	0.533	0.000
Sum	1235.754	1353.602	231,483.5	2090.381	928.566	28,128.92	36,000.15	20,595.38	47.384	63,081.63	52.504	2.381	1.123	3.503	843.001
Sum Sq. Dev.	3366.831	366.965	5.24E+09	8455.389	2769.076	7,051,503.	2,867,171.	5,431,589.	3.064	13,409,027	162.464	0.011	0.010	0.036	14,720.400
Observations	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	34

Note: AG = Agriculture value additions, GI = Gini index (inequality), GEX = Total government expenditure, POV = Poverty incidence, GAP = Poverty gap, SQGAP = Squared poverty gap, GDPPC = GDP per capita, GP = Gold price, HHDI = Relative poverty, CP = Cocoa price, MW = Minimum wage, IT = Indirect tax, DT = Direct tax, CPI = Consumer price index (inflation).

Table 3. Unit root tests

	Augmented Dicky-Fuller				Philips-Perron (PP) test				Elliott-Rothenberg-Stock DF-GLS test
	Levels		First difference		Levels		First difference		Levels		First difference
	Constant	Trend	Constant	Trend	Constant	Trend	Constant	Trend	Constant	Trend	Constant	Trend
ln DT	−2.91	−4.22**	−5.78***	−5.87***	−2.83	−4.21**	−5.88***	−5.92***	−0.28	−2.76***	−7.39***	−7.48***
ln IT	−4.38**	−5.26***	−5.49***	−5.46***	−4.38***	−5.33***	−5.82***	−5.73***	−1.00	−2.81***	−1.67	−4.96***
ln GI	−3.10**	−3.32	−6.02***	−6.29***	−4.43***	−3.37	−6.04***	−7.36***	−0.41	−2.18**	−3.79***	−5.86***
ln TT	−4.10***	−6.04***	−5.48***	−4.78***	−3.82***	−6.04***	−5.48***	−5.57***	−0.78	−2.90**	0.03	−4.76***
ln GP	−0.67	−1.67	−3.88***	−3.87**	−0.38	−1.66	−3.88**	−3.87**	−0.73	−1.57	−3.56**	−3.92***
AG	−1.88	−4.12**	−6.59***	−6.48***	−1.91	−4.14**	−12.55***	−12.86***	−0.33	−3.33**	−2.95**	−4.21***
ln HHDI	−0.54	−1.99	−3.18**	−3.11	−0.58	−1.84	−4.109***	−4.07**	0.19	−1.96	−2.99***	−3.23***
ln GDPPC	−3.04**	−4.35***	−8.14***	−7.88***	−3.07**	−4.33***	−9.56***	−8.90***	−3.03***	−3.73***	−2.05*	−7.39***
ln GEX	−3.36**	−2.75	− 4.83***	−5.46***	−4.87***	−2.75	−4.85***	−8.27***	0.46	−1.61	−3.28***	−5.15***
ln POV.	0.88	−0.87	−0.48	−1.88	1.13	−1.77	−6.01***	−15.86***	−0.90	−1.56	0.76	−1.75*
ln GAP	−0.13	−1.94	−0.59	−2.82	0.18	−1.86	−5.94***	−9.20***	0.07	−1.90*	−5.95***	−6.05***
ln SQD. GAP	−0.13	−1.94	−0.59	−2.82	0.18	−1.86	−5.94***	−9.20***	0.07	−1.90*	−5.95***	−6.05***
ln CP	−2.20	−2.39**	−4.60***	−4.68***	−2.23	−2.32	−5.72***	−7.54***	−2.20**	−2.39**	−4.60***	−4.68***
ln MW	−4.34***	−1.99	−1.69	−5.18***	−9.77***	−2.69	−4.83***	−11.32***	0.22	−0.99	−1.22	−5.39***
CPI	−8.07***	−3.26*	−4.26***	−4.24***	−8.07***	−9.16***	26.84***	−24.75***	−1.84*	−3.66***	0.53	−3.96***

Note: *, **, and *** denote significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1% level of significance, respectively. The definition of the variables is same as presented in Table 2.

Table 4. Long-run asymmetric NARDL results

Variables	ASYMMETRIC NON-LINEAR ARDL MODEL
	ln Poverty rate			ln Poverty Gap			ln Squared poverty GAP			ln HHDI
ln GDP per capita	−1.92*** (0.14)	−2.78*** (0.61)	−4.25*** (0.87)	−2.53*** (0.29)	−2.41*** (0.52)	−3.6*** (1.15)	−5.06*** (0.57)	−4.81*** (1.04)	−7.20*** (2.30)	0.19** (0.06)	0.31* (0.16)	−1.28 (2.96)
ln Gini index	−1.57* (0.76)	4.55*** (0.64)	1.22 (1.06)	−3.25** (1.22)	4.09*** (0.77)	3.43** (1.31)	−6.50** (2.44)	8.19*** (1.55)	6.86*** (2.63)	0.45*** (0.06)	−0.95 (0.98)	1.51 (2.63)
ln Direct tax (+)	0.31*** (0.09)			0.36** (0.14)			0.71** (0.29)			0.01 (0.01)
(-)	−0.55*** (0.10)			−0.87** (0.14)			−1.75*** (0.27)			0.07** (0.02)
ln Indirect tax (+)		−0.30* (0.12)			−0.08 (0.16)			−0.17 (0.32)			0.07*** (0.08)
(-)		−1.44*** (0.24)			−2.53*** (0.24)			−5.07*** (0.48)			−0.04 (0.09)
ln Total tax (+)			−0.95*** (0.20)			−1.0*** (0.18)			−1.99*** (0.35)			−0.34 (0.65)
(-)			−3.59*** (0.39)			−0.7*** (0.70)			−9.42*** (1.40)			−0.26 (0.79)
ln Gold Price	0.06*** (0.02)	0.51*** (0.09)	0.81*** (0.13)	0.00 (0.04)	0.54*** (0.08)	0.85*** (0.19)	0.00 (0.08)	1.08*** (0.16)	1.71*** (0.38)	0.00 (0.01)	−0.04 (0.04)	0.200 (0.43)
Agriculture	0.01* (0.00)	−0.01 (0.01)	0.01 (0.01)	0.01 (0.01)	0.02** (0.01)	−0.00 (0.01)	0.02 (0.01)	0.03** (0.01)	−0.01 (0.02)	−0.00** (0.00)	−0.03* (0.00)	−0.00 (0.01)
ln Government exp.	−0.02 (0.03)	−0.18*** (0.04)	0.05 (0.06)	0.02 (0.04)	−0.33*** (0.05)	−0.16* (0.08)	0.035 (0.07)	−0.67*** (0.10)	−0.33* (0.16)	−0.01	0.02* (0.01)	0.073 (0.13)
F-test for cointegration	8.75***	11.25***	8.69***	8.33***	11.21***	7.92***	8.33***	11.21***	7.92***	13.33***	11.22***	14.86***

Note: *, **, and *** indicate the levels of significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1%, respectively

Table 5. Long-run ARDL results

Variables	SYMETRIC LINEAR ARDL MODEL (p,q)
	ln Poverty rate			ln Poverty Gap			ln Squared poverty GAP			ln HHDI
ln GDP per capita	−2.51*** (0.67)	−4.60*** (1.26)	−3.49*** (1.03)	−4.33*** (0.86)	−5.97*** (1.12)	−4.75*** (1.37)	−8.67*** (1.73)	−11.93*** (2.24)	−9.51*** (2.75)	−0.56 (0.50)	−0.35 (0.41)	−0.33 (0.39)
ln Gini index	3.10*** (0.56)	5.77*** (0.96)	4.68*** (0.85)	6.78*** (1.78)	7.13*** (0.92)	7.11*** (1.12)	13.56*** (3.55)	14.26*** (1.85)	14.22*** (2.25)	1.43 (1.24)	0.81 (0.64)	0.73 (0.58)
ln Direct tax	0.03 (0.10)			0.34 (0.25)			0.68 (0.50)			0.04 (0.07)
ln Indirect tax		−0.80*** (0.19)			−0.65** (0.25)			−1.31** (0.51)			−0.03 (0.04)
ln Total tax			−0.63*** (0.19)			−1.02*** (0.23)			−2.05*** (0.46)			−0.03 (0.05)
ln Gold Price	0.14** (0.07)	0.50*** (0.15)	0.36** (0.13)	0.29** (0.10)	0.54*** (0.06)	0.48** (0.16)	0.57** (0.20)	1.09*** (0.26)	0.95** (0.33)	0.13 (0.09)	0.09 (0.01)	0.09 (0.07)
Agriculture	−0.03** (0.009)	−0.02*** (0.01)	−0.02** (0.01)	−0.06** (0.02)	−0.04*** (0.01)	−0.03** (0.01)	−0.13** (0.04)	−0.08*** (0.02)	−0.05** (0.02)	−0.01 (0.01)	−0.00 (0.00)	−0.00 (0.00)
ln Government exp.	−0.08 (0.06)	0.02 (0.06)	0.01 (0.06)	−0.25* (0.13)	−0.00 (0.06)	0.01 (0.08)	−0.50* (0.25)	−0.00 (0.12)	0.02 (0.16)	−0.03 (0.04)	0.00 (0.01)	0.00 (0.01)
F-test for cointegration	4.62***	7.34***	5.33***	4.28***	4.86***	5.65***	4.28***	4.86***	5.65***	2.70	3.57	3.39

Note: *, **, and *** indicate the levels of significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1%, respectively

Table 6. Short-run NARDL results

Variables	ASYMMETRIC NON-LINEAR ARDL MODEL
	ln Poverty rate			ln Poverty Gap			ln Squared poverty GAP				ln HHDI
ln GDP per capita	0.91* (0.62)	−2.29*** (0.37)	−2.38*** (0.55)	1.51* (0.85)	−2.95*** (0.61)	−2.75*** (0.72)	3.02* (1.70)	−5.90*** (0.19)		−5.49*** (1.44)	0.02** (0.01)	−0.04*** (0.01)	−0.05*** (0.01)
ln Gini index	−2.76* (1.59)	2.90* (1.55)	17.04*** (2.76)	−4.86 (2.21)	2.33 (2.50)	21.05*** (3.56)	−9.7** (4.41)	4.66 (5.00)		42.10*** (7.11)	−0.07** (0.02)	0.07 (0.04)	−0.04 (0.05)
ln Direct tax(+)	0.46*** (0.12)			0.57*** (0.16)			1.14*** (0.33)				0.01*** (0.00)
(-)	−0.95*** (0.21)			−1.25*** (0.29)			−2.49*** (0.58)				0.02*** (0.00)
ln Indirect tax (+)		0.21* (0.11)			0.32* (0.15)			0.64* (0.30)				−0.02*** (0.003)
(-)		−0.32** (0.12)			−1.15*** (0.20)			−2.30*** (0.40)				0.01*** (0.00)
ln Total tax (+)			−0.20 (0.14)			−0.25 (0.18)				−0.50 (0.36)			−0.02*** (0.00)
(-)			−1.44*** (0.21)			−1.86*** (0.28)				−3.72*** (0.56)			0.01*** (0.00)
ln Gold Price	0.11 (0.08)	0.43*** (0.05)	0.66*** (0.09)	0.01 (0.11)	0.69*** (0.09)	0.85*** (0.12)	0.25 (0.21)	1.38*** (0.19)		1.71*** (0.24)		0.01** (0.00)	0.01*** (0.00)
Agriculture	0.016** (0.00)	0.01* (0.00)	−0.01 (0.00)	0.01* (0.01)	0.02*** (0.00)	−0.01 (0.00)	0.02* (0.01)	0.04*** (0.01)		−0.01 (0.01)	0.00*** (0.00)	−0.00*** (0.00)	−0.00 (0.00)
ln Government exp.	−0.01 (0.08)	−0.05 (0.05)	−0.00 (0.07)	0.07 (0.11)	0.02 (0.08)	0.01 (0.10)	0.14 (0.22)	0.04 (0.16)		0.02 (0.19)	0.00 (0.00)	0.01*** (0.00)	0.02*** (0.00)
C	32.4*** (4.14)	4.28*** (0.34)	13.33*** (1.37)	44.61*** (5.27)	1.69*** (0.15)	11.70*** (1.16)	89.21*** (10.53)	3.38*** (0.30)		23.41*** (2.32)	−2.55*** (0.08)	0.41*** (0.02)	0.87*** (0.06)
ECM (−1)	−1.51*** (0.19)	−1.41*** (0.11)	−1.18*** (0.12)	−1.45*** (0.17)	−1.27*** (0.11)	−1.12*** (0.11)	−1.45*** (0.17)	−1.27*** (0.11)		−1.12*** (0.11)	−1.66*** (0.05)	−0.47*** (0.03)	−0.30*** (0.02)

Note: *, **, and *** indicate the levels of significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1%, respectively

Table 7. Short-run ARDL results

Variables	SYMMETRIC DYNAMIC LINEAR ARDL MODEL (p, q)
	ln Poverty rate			ln Poverty Gap			ln Squared poverty GAP			ln HHDI
ln GDP per capita	0.17	−1.31**	0.06	0.41	−0.80	−0.21	0.83	−2.19	−0.05	−0.02	−0.01	−0.00
ln Gini index	0.04	3.38**	0.08	−0.08	1.06	1.12	−0.15	11.77**	5.28	−0.07	−0.18*	−0.17*
ln Direct tax	0.09			0.10						−0.01*
ln Indirect tax		0.09			−0.18			−0.21			0.01
ln Total tax			−0.05			−0.16			−0.04			0.01
ln Gold Price	−0.01	0.21**	0.04	−0.02	0.15	0.10	−0.05	0.55**	0.28	0.01	0.01	0.01
Agriculture	−0.00	−0.01	−0.00		0.00	−0.00	−0.01	−0.02	−0.01	0.00***	0.00***	0.00***
ln Government exp.	−0.07	−0.02	−0.05	0.08	0.04	0.03	−0.16	0.04	−0.04	0.01**	0.00	0.00
C	6.00***	5.29***	6.46***	5.84***	3.07***	2.32***	11.68***	−10.62***	4.30***	0.24***	0.20***	0.17***
ECM(−1)	−0.72***	−0.86***	−0.70***	−0.66	−0.63***	−0.64***	−0.66***	−0.82***	−0.74***	0.19***	0.24***	0.24***

Note: *, **, and *** indicate the levels of significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1%, respectively

Table 8. Long-run NARDL results

Variables	Asymmetric Static Non-Linear ARDL model
	ln Gini index
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3
ln Direct tax (+)	0.07 (0.05)
(-)	−0.03 (0.03)
ln Indirect tax (+)		0.12*** (0.03)
(-)		0.08** (0.03)
ln Total tax (+)			0.11 (0.08)
(-)			0.09 (0.10)
ln GDP per capita	−0.23*** (0.07)	0.02 (0.04)	−0.07 (0.05)
ln cocoa price	0.01 (0.01)	−0.02** (0.01)	0.02 (0.01)
ln Minimum wage	0.02 (0.02)	0.01 (0.01)	0.02 (0.02)
Inflation	−0.00*** (0.00)	−0.00*** (0.00)	−0.00*** (0.00)
R-Squared	0.97	0.98	0.98
F-test for cointegration	3.05	5.44***	4.64***
Wald Test of asymmetry (F)	0.339	0.004	0.002

Note: *, **, and *** indicate the levels of significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1%, respectively. Standard error is given in the bracket, we relied on the Akaike information criteria.

Table 9. Long-run ARDL results

Variables	symmetric Static Linear ARDL model
	ln Gini index
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3
ln Direct Tax	−0.02 (0.02)
ln Indirect tax		0.08** (0.03)
ln Total tax			0.04 (0.04)
ln GDP per capita	−0.06 (0.06)	−0.04 (0.06)	−0.08 (0.06)
ln Cocoa price	−0.02 (0.01)	−0.02 (0.01)	−0.01 (0.01)
ln Minimum wage	0.04*** (0.01)	0.02*** (0.01)	0.03*** (0.01)
Inflation	−0.00*** (0.00)	−0.00*** (0.00)	−0.00*** (0.00)
R-Squared	0.97	0.98	0.97
F-test for cointegration	5.50***	4.25***	4.05***

Note: *, **, *** denote significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1% level. Standard errors are given in the bracket.

Table 10. Short-run dynamic ARDL results

Variables	Symmetric Dynamic Linear ARDL model
	ln Gini index
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3
ln Direct tax	0.00 (0.02)
ln Indirect tax		0.00 (0.0)
ln Total tax			0.00 (0.02)
ln GDP per capita	0.06 (0.12)	0.00 (0.11)	−0.02 (0.11)
ln Cocoa price	−0.01 (0.01)	−0.01 (0.01)	−0.01 (0.01)
ln Minimum wage	−0.02 (0.02)	−0.01 (0.01)	−0.02 (0.02)
Inflation	−0.00** (0.00)	−0.0007*** (0.0002)	−0.00** (0.00)
Constant	2.77*** (0.00)	3.40*** (0.63)	3.28*** (0.64)
ECM(−1)	−0.66*** (0.13)	−0.79*** (0.15)	−0.73*** (0.14)

Note: *, **, and *** indicate the significance at the 10%, 5%, and 1% levels. Standard errors are given in the brackets.

Table 11. Diagnostics of the NARDL and ARDL models

Diagnostic Test	Asymmetric NARDL Diagnostic test for all models
	ln Poverty rate			ln Poverty Gap			ln Squared poverty GAP			ln HHDI
	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax
Serial correlation LM(2)	6.04 [0.05]	18.92 [0.00]	24.61 [0.00]	5.34 [0.07]	19.89 [0.00]	25.36 [0.00]	5.34 [0.07]	19.89 [0.00]	25.36 [0.00]	22.35 [0.00]	18.23 [0.63]	21.13 [0.00]
Heteroskedasticity	10.65 [0.56]	21.96 [1.00]	18.15 [0.58]	12.14 [0.52]	21.24 [0.27]	17.74 [0.54]	12.14 [0.52]	21.24 [0.27]	17.74 [0.54]	20.03 [0.52]	24.67 [0.00]	22.22 [0.33]
Normality: Jarque–Bera Prob.	0.22 [0.90]	2.40 [0.300]	0.98 [0.61]	0.36 [0.84]	1.04 [0.60]	0.14 [0.93]	0.36 [0.84]	1.04 [0.60]	0.14 [0.93]	0.85 [0.65]	0.82 [0.66]	0.20 [0.90]
Ramsey RESET	0.256 [0.80]	0.45 [0.67]	1.50 [0.17]	0.74 [0.47]	0.32 [0.75]	0.74 [0.47]	0.74 [0.47]	0.32 [0.75]	0.74 [0.47]	2.20 [0.09]	1.37 [0.24]	0.92 [0.40]
Diagnostic Test	Symmetric ARDL Diagnostic test for all models
	ln Poverty rate			ln Poverty Gap			ln Squared poverty GAP			ln HHDI
	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax
Serial correlation LM(2)	1.94 [0.38]	13.6 [0.00]	7.60 [0.02]	2.43 [0.3]	16.61 [0.00]	8.80 [0.01]	2.43 [0.30]	16.61 [0.00]	8.80 [0.01]	10.88 [0.00]	5.18 [0.07]	20.05 [0.09]
Heteroskedasticity	13.33 [0.21]	19.76 [0.18]	21.72 [0.04]	16.97 [0.05]	18.23 [0.25]	18.95 [0.09]	16.97 [0.05]	18.23 [0.25]	18.95 [0.09]	20.24 [0.21]	20.54 [0.08]	20.05 [0.09]
Normality: Jarque–Bera Prob.	1.40 [0.50]	0.13 [0.94]	0.38 [0.83]	1.40 [0.5]	0.43 [0.80]	0.29 [0.86]	1.40 [1.5]	0.43 [0.81]	0.29 [0.86]	1.05 [0.59]	11.12 [0.00]	10.67 [0.00]
Ramsey RESET	[0.25] 0.80	2.00 [0.06]	0.65 [0.52]	0.60 [0.56]	1.56 [0.14]	0.57 [0.58]	0.60 [0.56]	1.56 [0.14]	0.57 [0.58]	1.09 [0.30]	0.80 [0.44]	1.01 [0.33]

Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelation Consistent Covariance (HAC) estimators were employed in the estimations.

Table 12. Diagnostics of the ARDL models

Diagnostic Test	Symmetric ARDL Diagnostic test
	ln Gini
	Direct tax	Indirect tax	Total tax
Serial correlation LM(2)	2.04 [0.36]	4.45 [0.11]	4.32 [0.12]
Heteroskedasticity	15.42 [0.03]	18.33 [0.05]	21.88 [0.02]
Normality: Jarque–Bera Prob.	3.16 [0.21]	0.08 [0.96]	0.22 [0.90]
Ramsey RESET	0.58 [0.57]	0.57 [0.57]	0.69 [0.50]

Note: Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelation Consistent Covariance (HAC) estimators were employed in the estimations.

Table

Variables	Wald test for long-run asymmetry
	ln Poverty rate			ln Poverty Gap			ln Squared poverty GAP			ln HHDI
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4	Model 5	Model 6	Model 7	Model 8	Model 9	Model 10	Model 11	Model 12
F-Statistic	21.70***	0.60	0.57	24.82***	33.18***	3.24*	24.82***	33.18***	3.24*	85.74***	18.68***	4.52**
	asymmetric	symmetric	symmetric	asymmetric	asymmetric	asymmetric	asymmetric	asymmetric	asymmetric	asymmetric	asymmetric	asymmetric