Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

micawber threshold

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.78 in modern English

Syllables: mi-caw-ber thresh-old
IPA

33

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

4

Syllables

14

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A level of income, above the poverty line, but not high enough to cope with economic shocks.

Example Sentences

"As for the moderate poverty line, the existence of positive expected net savings capacity is in a sense a Micawber threshold [Dickens 1849-50, ch. 14], separating accumulation from decumulation of the present value of a person's human and physical capital stock."
"If drawing down such assets pushes the household below the Micawber threshold, then the estimated poverty-trap asset dynamics again predict that the temporary shock will have permanent, long-run effects."
"The key point for lessons for conservation in general, and that of felids in particular, is that there exists a poverty line, or a variant of it that Carter and Barrett call the Micawber threshold (a charmingly Dickensian allusion to perpetually insolvent debtors) below which the poor are economically incapable of bettering their situation without significant outside help; people in this situation have no incentive to save or preserve anything, including wildlife and especially big cats, which are damaging and dangerous."

Etymology

From the Dickens character Wilkins Micawber, known for his inability to work his way out of poverty.

Phrases

Micawber frontier

Frequently Paired Words

Micawber frontier

Questions

What does micawber threshold mean?: A level of income, above the poverty line, but not high enough to cope with economic shocks.
Where does micawber threshold come from?: From the Dickens character Wilkins Micawber, known for his inability to work his way out of poverty.

How to pronounce micawber threshold

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