important in 2000 than in 1995 but revealing a stable tendency (shown by the various tables
and graphs presented).
Therefore, the SAM-based study that was carried out has made it possible to describe some
structural features of the Portuguese economy from 1995 to 2000 with an emphasis on
households. Through its modelling with the use of accounting multipliers, it was possible to
set limits for the quantitative impact (i.e. the limits within which the impact could be noted) of
various types of interventions relating to household income on the economy as a whole, with
their importance for production accounts and the stability of these limits being evident.
Despite its limiting assumptions, the SAM can be understood as a useful working
instrument for improving our basic knowledge of all socio-economic mechanisms, as well as
for constructing short-term scenarios involving changes in certain flows that it represents.
Besides the test on the veracity of the results, undertaken in this study, many others could be
undertaken, involving other years, to confirm the usefulness of the SAM. Other studies could
also be undertaken, changing, for instance, the position of the dividing line between
endogenous and exogenous accounts (using the words of Stone, 1981) or the expenditure
structure.
We hope that the present study has been a good starting point for a study that we plan to
carry out into income distribution and poverty in Portugal, using the SAM11. The next stage
will be the disaggregation of the household sector, identifying the poor, and research into
other modelling methodologies (based on SAMs), with less limiting assumptions.
11 The set of articles about the special issue “Accounting for poverty and income distribution analysis”,
published in June 2003 in Vol. 15(2) of Economic Systems Research, and, in a more indirect way, the book by
Duchin, F. (1998) “Structural Economics: Measuring Changes in Technologies, Lifestyles, and the
Environment” (New York, Oxford University Press) have been useful guides.
- 20 -