Culture and consumption expenditure patterns: comparison between Korean and United States households

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify household consumption expenditure patterns in the US and to determine if these patterns are different from those of Korean households. Data were cluster analysed, and the results revealed four different consumption expenditure patterns for US and Korean households. Logit analysis showed that consumption expenditure patterns of households in both countries are likely to vary depending on socioeconomic factors. Similarities and differences in consumption expenditure patterns between cultures are discussed, and implications are provided.     

Out‐of‐Pocket Health Care Expenditure Patterns and Financial Burden across the Life Cycle Stages

This study examines out‐of‐pocket health care expenditure patterns of households and the financial burden of health care costs over the stages of the household life cycle, using the 1995 Consumer Expenditure Survey. The elderly households not only spend more for health care, but they also experience higher financial burdens than other households. Insurance status, liquid assets, life cycle stage, household size, education, and self‐employment status are significant factors affecting the household budge share of health care expenses.     

Domestic fuel expenditure and payment of fuel allowances

The allocation of additional requirements for heating to households on supplementary benefit (SB) has been challenged recently. Some households receiving an addition spend less on fuel than others which do not. The fuel expenditure of any household on SB is likely to be constrained by income and may reflect ability to pay rather than need. A group of households with zero or close to zero income elasticity for fuel expenditure is identified. The expenditure on fuel of these households can be considered not to be constrained by income and to reflect the real costs of maintaining a warm home in given circumstances. Their expenditure is then used to indicate how fuel allowances might be better targeted.     

Socio‐demographic determinants of gambling participation and expenditures: evidence from Malaysia

This study examined the socio‐demographic determinants of participation and expenditure decisions on gambling among non‐Muslim households in Malaysia using data from the 2005–2006 Malaysian Household Expenditures Survey. Heckman's sample selection analysis was used to obtain consistent (unbiased) empirical estimates for the regression equation of gambling expenditures in the presence of censoring (observed zeros) in the dependent variable. Marginal effects were also calculated to further explore the effects of socio‐demographic variables on the probability and levels of gambling expenditures. The results indicated that non‐Muslim households in Malaysia who are more likely to participate and spend more in gambling include Chinese, affluent, male‐headed, younger and non‐white collar households. Specifically, households of Chinese descent have higher gambling probabilities and expenditures than Indians and those of other ethnic backgrounds. While education reduces and age increases the likelihood and expenditures of gambling among Chinese households, these effects are non‐extant for Indians and other ethnic groups. Higher income and male‐headed households were more likely to partake and have higher expenditures in gambling among all non‐Muslim ethnic groups. Finally, Chinese and Indian households headed by a white‐collar worker have lower gambling likelihoods and unconditional expenditures than their blue‐collar cohorts. Based on these results, several anti‐gambling policies were suggested to target those more likely to participate and spend more in gambling activities.     

The crowding-out effect of elderly support expenditure on household consumption from the perspective of population aging: Evidence from China

The pace of aging in China is accelerating, from the introduction of family planning to the liberalization of the two-child policy, with a growing proportion of families in the 4–2-1 structure. With filial piety in mind, most adult children will live with their elderly parents and share income and expenditure. Concurrently, due to the inadequacy of the social security system, a heavy supplementary burden of supporting the elderly has been placed on adult children. Based on data from the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017 Chinese Social Survey (CSS) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), this study analyzes the objective factors affecting household elderly support expenditure using the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation method. It also examines the crowding-out effect of elderly support expenditure on the consumption of different types of households through a panel generalized method of moments (GMM) approach. Finally, the crowding-out effect of elderly support expenditure is discussed in a sub-sample according to the number of households needing to support the elderly aged 60 and above. The empirical results illustrate that there is a crowding-out effect of elderly support expenditure on household consumption, and the magnitude of the crowding-out effect varies for diverse consumption. Our study reveals that the crowding-out effect of elderly support expenditure on core consumption is the largest in a sample with different numbers of elderly persons in families. The empirical results for the sub-sample show that the larger the elderly population, the stronger the crowding-out effect of elderly support expenditure on core consumption and the less pronounced the effect on marginal consumption.     

Budget Allocation Patterns of African Americans

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (1980–1992), Consumer Price Index (1980–1992), and ACCRA Cost of Living Index (1990) are used to construct annual household expenditure data from 1980 to 1992 to compare household budget allocation patterns of African Americans to Asian Americans, Caucasian Americans, and Hispanic Americans. Using the LA/AIDS demand system, researchers found that African American households have statistically significantly different budget allocation patterns in more than half of the 13 expenditure categories investigated in this study, after controlling for other socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.     

Expenditure patterns on food and non food items of Khayelitsha households,Western Cape,South Africa

Food insecurity or lack of access to adequate and nutritious food is a major determinant of under‐nutrition. Expenditure patterns accompanied by unemployment, low level of education, inflation and high food prices have a direct negative impact on food availability within households (Moller, 1997). Ghany and Schwenk (1993) found that as household income increases, the proportion of expenditures on food decreases, the proportion of expenditures on clothing, rent, fuel, and light stayed the same and that of sundries increased. The aim of this study was to investigate household expenditure patterns on food and non‐food items in Khayelitsha. A total of 20 households (10 from the formal and 10 from the informal settlements) were randomly selected from those willing to participate in the study. A questionnaire with open ended and closed questions was used to collect data. The questionnaire comprised four sections namely: biographical information, socio‐economic information which used wealth quintiles to assess households’ social economic status, total expenditure information and a food/hunger scale was used to assess households’ food availability. The findings revealed that households from informal settlements spent more money (62.2%) as a proportion of their income on food compared to households from the formal settlement (39%). There was higher unemployment rate (100%) at the informal settlement compared to the formal settlement (40%). Wealth quintiles scales did not reflect the social status of the households as equipment and assets owned by households were only used as fallback position during times of economic hardships. Households used different purchasing strategies; food and non‐food items were mainly purchased from outside the township (60%). Forty percent of the households bought their items from local shops and spazas because they allowed them to buy items whenever little money was available or to take items on credit. All the respondents preferred to buy bread and small items from spazas and local shops. Prices of items in the spazas and local shops were higher compared to prices of items in bigger shops outside the townships. The food/hunger scale and wealth quintiles showed that informal settlement households were more food insecure (as they were all unemployed and about 50% of the households ran out of food always) and had fewer assets compared to the formal settlement households. The implications of these findings underscore the need to improve socio‐economic conditions of low resource households through empowerment programs. These programs can be in the form of training in management/decision making, work related skills/literacy (to help them access formal employment), business management/income generation skills (to help them to be self‐employed), budgeting, and food gardening. This approach can help to increase the resource base and alleviate food insecurity in low resource households.     

Choices and using of washing machines in Chinese households

Rapid urbanization and improvement in living standard skyrocket the demand for washing machines in Chinese households, especially in urban households. This paper discusses the owning rate of different types of washing machines, using frequency, load capacity, factors affect choices of washing machines, etc. in Chinese households and suggest possible strategies in choosing washing machines considering economic expenditure. Quantitative information relates to choice and use of household washing machines was collected through in‐depth interview of the key person who carried out household laundering. A total of 993 households that were randomly selected in eight provinces and a municipality were successfully interviewed. Impeller washing machine is still in a dominate place whereas drum washing machine increasing steadily. Households with higher income tend to buy drum washing machines for their better performances in detergency and superior quality. Load capacity between 4 and 6 kg is very common at present. Larger load capacity is a trend of washing machine choices in Chinese households. Washing machine with better energy efficiency is more popular for its lower expenditure in use. This is more obvious for drum washing machine. Washing machines are often used once every 1 or 2 days in summer, whereas one wash per week and two washes per week are very common in winter. Consumer will expend much more money with the choice of a drum washing machine, not only for paying for the machine, but also for the consumed electricity and water and wastewater discharges in every use.     

Do Consumers Respond to Country-of-Origin Labelling?

Seafood was the first class of foods to fall under the 2002 US regulatory requirements for mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL). If this regulation created benefits for consumers, filling an information void by demanding information that the market did not, then there should have been an observable response in the demand for seafood. To gauge the impact, we examined markets most likely to respond. We estimated retail demand for shrimp, seafood that in the USA is largely sourced from Southeast Asia and has a history of raising food safety concerns. Our estimated demand systems included standard variables consistent with economic theory—price and expenditure changes, ongoing trends, and seasonality in consumption patterns. The demand systems also accounted for regulations that required country-of-origin labels for some, but not all, foods prior to COOL. Data came from a nationally representative panel of households that record retail food purchases, allowing us to construct relatively high-frequency market data suitable for testing for the presence of even short-lived impacts. Household demographic information allowed us to separately estimate demands by consumers most likely to respond to label information. The demand systems yielded reasonable price and expenditure elasticity estimates, but none of the variables related to COOL revealed evidence of an impact.     

Consumption levels of households based on expenditure and household production

The distribution of consumption is the relative ranking of households with regard to their consumption level. This article discusses the possibilities and some of the problems in measuring consumption levels by combining expenditure and household production into one total figure. The feasibility of our approach is illustrated by using data from the Dutch 1980 budget survey and the 1980 time use study. The findings show that this total figure differs more between households of different size than between households by stage of life cycle or by income level.     

Fatality rate of pedestrians and fatal crash involvement rate of drivers in pedestrian crashes: a case study of Iran

The aim of this study was to uncover patterns of pedestrian crashes. In the first stage, 34,178 pedestrian-involved crashes occurred in Iran during a four-year period were grouped into homogeneous clusters using a clustering analysis. Next, some in-cluster and inter-cluster crash patterns were analysed. The clustering analysis yielded six pedestrian crash groups. Car/van/pickup crashes on rural roads as well as heavy vehicle crashes were found to be less frequent but more likely to be fatal compared to other crash clusters. In addition, after controlling for crash frequency in each cluster, it was found that the fatality rate of each pedestrian age group as well as the fatal crash involvement rate of each driver age group varies across the six clusters. Results of present study has some policy implications including, promoting pedestrian safety training sessions for heavy vehicle drivers, imposing limitations over elderly heavy vehicle drivers, reinforcing penalties toward under 19 drivers and motorcyclists. In addition, road safety campaigns in rural areas may be promoted to inform people about the higher fatality rate of pedestrians on rural roads. The crash patterns uncovered in this study might also be useful for prioritizing future pedestrian safety research areas.     

Determinants of Household Expenditure on Computer Hardware and Software

This study investigated households’ expenditure on computer hardware and software using the 2000 Consumer Expenditure Survey. Based on neoclassical consumer theory, a conceptual model of computer expenditure was developed that included economic resources and consumer tastes and preferences. A double‐hurdle model was conducted to estimate whether or not households spent on computer hardware and software and the amount spent on computer hardware and software. Implications are offered for consumers and policy makers.     

Book Reviews

This study examines whether the restaurant food expenditure patterns of two-earner Canadian households are consistent with a hypothesis that restaurant meals are convenience rather than luxury items. Results of the study indicate a positive relationship between the proportion of total food expenditures allocated to discretionary restaurant meals and the wage rates (value of time) of both the household head und spouse and a negative relationship between proportionate restaurant food expenditures and unearned income. Both results support the hypothesis. The study also examines relationships between proportionate restaurant food expenditures and a set of household characteristics variables.     

收入不确定性对城乡居民消费支出影响的比较研究——基于中国省级面板数据的分析

基于2000—2009年的面板数据,在测度中国城乡居民收入不确定性的基础上,比较研究了城乡居民不同类别收入的不确定性对居民分类消费支出的影响,结果表明:各省城乡居民各类收入均出现了不确定性;不同省份城乡居民各类收入的不确定性有所差异,各省内部城乡居民收入的不确定性也不相同;从全国的视角看,各类收入的不确定性对总体消费造成了结构性影响,农村居民收入的不确定性大于城镇居民收入的不确定性。     

Limitations of Combining Hispanics and African Americans for Analysis of Credit Problems

This study uses a combination of six Survey of Consumer Finances data sets to examine whether factors affecting credit delinquency differ by the racial/ethnic identity of households. Hispanic households are less likely than white households and white households are less likely than African American households to be delinquent. Our full model with interaction terms shows that the effects of financially adverse events, financial buffers and debt burden on the debt delinquency differ across racial/ethnic groups. Combining African American and Hispanic households into one racial/ethnic minority group as previous studies have done can be problematic.     

Outsourcing child care,home cleaning and meal preparation

In this paper, the outsourcing of child care, home cleaning and meal preparation is analysed by means of a socio‐economic model that incorporates household‐economic, life cycle, lifestyle and health variables. The data (n = 700) were collected during a telephone survey in the Netherlands. About 10% of the households did not use any of the three outsourcing types. About 70 to 90% of households outsourced meal preparation at least once per month. In each household life cycle stage, the average monthly expenditures on outsourcing meal preparation were the highest of the three outsourcing categories. Factors affecting expenditures were generally the same for each type of outsourcing studied. In general, household economic variables including wage and working hours were unimportant in explaining the incidence and expenditures of outsourcing. The same holds for self‐reported health. All expenditure types were affected by life cycle variables. There was an indication that a traditional lifestyle and traditional family type affected outsourcing expenditures negatively. Education appeared as an important factor: regardless of gender, both medium‐ and higher‐educated people were more inclined to spend money on outsourcing than the lower educated. Especially, people younger than 44 years outsourced meal preparation. Outsourcing was neither restricted to nor especially practised by couples.     

Coupon Usage and Frequent Buyer Club Participation by Lower,Middle, and Upper Social Classes

Abstract

More than 75% of households belong to at least one frequent-buyer club program and over 90% of these households use their cards almost every time they shop. Presently, customer-loyalty efforts are a major promotional priority for 56% of marketers. However, marketing scientists have not compared the social class participation levels of frequent-buyer club members to those of coupon-users and “ordinary” customers. By performing this comparison, it was found that the coupon-user (p < 0.01) and frequent-buyer (p < 0.01) groups had lower social class standings than did the “ordinary” households. Moreover, because there were no significant (p < 0.20) differences between the upper, middle, and lower social class standings of coupon-users and frequent-buyers, managerial substitutions of frequent-buyer promotions for coupon efforts seem rational.     

Household characteristics and the change of financial risk tolerance during the financial crisis in the United States

This study examines how household financial risk tolerance is affected during the period of 2007 and 2009, which covered the eve and trough of the financial crisis in the United States and what types of households are associated with the change of risk tolerance. Risk tolerance is measured by two objective indicators, narrowly and broadly defined stock ownership, and a subjective indicator, risk taking attitude. Using panel data from 2007 to 2009 Survey of Consumer Finances, results show that during the financial crisis, the households in general are more risk averse, indicated by withdrawing from stock markets and holding a less risk taking attitude. In addition, Black and Hispanic households are more likely and households with higher education are less likely to withdraw from stock markets. Older households are less likely to change in risk tolerance during the financial crisis, as are richer households. The findings show panel data could generate novel results and contribute to the literature of financial risk tolerance.