Methods of household consumption measurement through surveys: Experimental results from Tanzania

Surveys of consumption expenditure vary widely across many dimensions, including the level of reporting, the length of the reference period, and the degree of commodity detail. These variations occur both across countries and also over time within countries, with little current understanding of the implications of such changes for spatially and temporally consistent measurement of household consumption and poverty. A field experiment in Tanzania tests eight alternative methods of measuring household consumption, finding significant differences between consumption reported by the benchmark personal diary and other diary and recall formats. Under-reporting is particularly apparent for illiterate households and for urban respondents completing household diaries; recall modules measure lower consumption than a personal diary, with larger gaps among poorer households and for households with more adult members. Variations in reporting accuracy by household characteristics are also discussed and differences in measured poverty as a result of survey design are explored.     

The Labor Market as a Smoothing Device: Labor Supply Responses to Crop Loss

The paper studies the way in which labor supply responses enable households to smooth consumption in the face of crop loss. The 1993 Indonesian Family Life Survey is unusual because it contains self-reported information on crop loss and on household responses to crop loss. Of those households that report a crop loss, 41.6% also report that they responded by taking an extra job. Using these self-reported measures, the authors find evidence which suggests that the income associated with this shock-induced labor supply is important in allowing the household to avoid reducing consumption expenditure. Household members, however, do not seem to increase their total hours of work. They appear to just reallocate their time from household farming to other labor market activities.     

Expenditure behavior and children's welfare: an analysis of female headed households in Jamaica

This paper presents an analysis on the expenditure behavior and children's welfare among female-headed households in Jamaica. Included in the examination of household composition are the demographic effects, endogeneity of total expenditure, the headship variable and the endogeneity of family structure. Using the 1989 Jamaican Survey of Living Conditions (SLC), expenditure estimation on over 100 goods for 3500 household was examined. This study utilized the Ordinary Least Square estimates, 2 SLC and endogeneity tests, and partnered and unpartnered household heads. Results for the demand for preventive health care were significant among older children in female-headed households, with a 4% increase in the probability of a check-up across all ages. This study presents a partial explanation of lower morbidity rates in female-headed households despite lower budget and total per capita expenditure levels. In conclusion, this study confirms the significant influence of sex and union status of the household head on household expenditure behaviors with implications for individual household members, with more positive outcomes among children despite differences in budget allocation and lower health expenditures.     

跨境上市与证券市场流动性之争研究述评

跨境上市以及跨市场证券交易的迅猛发展,对全球证券市场产生了较大的影响。本文对跨境上市对市场流动性影响的国内外研究进行了综述。综合国外研究发现,企业跨境上市对企业母国证券市场的流动性冲击主要有正向效应、负向效应和双赢局面三种可能,具体取决于该国市场的实际情况。影响流动性冲击方向的主要因素包括:母国市场散户投资者数量,市场透明度和市场间信息关联度,时区差异、佣金费率和母国市场发展程度,政府资金管制以及市场间证券报酬率的相关性五个方面。国内针对跨境上市的相关研究也在不断开展,但是针对跨境上市对我国证券市场可能造成的冲击和影响的研究还比较匮乏,有待加强。     

Quick-service expenditure in Ireland: parametric vs. semiparametric analysis

The aim of this study is to identify the economic and socio-economic factors influencing Irish households' expenditure on quick-service meals, a particularly dynamic component of the foodservice industry, and to determine the extent to which these factors have changed over the course of the 1990s. Maximum likelihood estimation and semiparametric alternatives are considered with the conclusion that in this instance semiparametric techniques do not offer a viable alternative to maximum likelihood estimation of tobit models, even in the presence of heteroscedasticity and non-normality. The results revel that household income, place of residence, commuters and household size have significant and positive influences on quick-service expenditure. Older families, single households and married couples, together with homeowners, display reduced expenditure. The opportunity cost of time is positively related to quick-service expenditure, consistent with theory, while health knowledge has a negative impact on quick-service consumption.     

LIVING STANDARDS INEQUALITY BETWEEN MIGRANTS AND LOCAL RESIDENTS IN URBAN CHINA—A QUANTILE DECOMPOSITION

This study investigates the inequality in per‐capita consumption expenditure between urban and rural‐to‐urban migrant households in China using Rural‐Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) data. The methodology used is that of Oaxaca‐Blinder and unconditional quantile decompositions and we deal with selection related to education level using matching. It is found that the characteristics effect does not contribute toward explaining any of the gaps in consumption. Results from a detailed decomposition suggest that differences in educational level account for 8%–19% of the overall inequality after taking selectivity of education into consideration. Differences in household size and region of residence are also important in narrowing expenditure inequality between the two groups. (JEL R23, C15)     

An Assignment Theory of Foreign Direct Investment

We develop an assignment theory to analyse the volume and composition of foreign direct investment (FDI). Firms conduct FDI by either engaging in greenfield investment or in cross-border acquisitions. Cross-border acquisitions involve firms trading heterogeneous corporate assets to exploit complementarities, while greenfield FDI involves setting up a new production division in the foreign country. In equilibrium, greenfield FDI and cross-border acquisitions coexist within the same industry, but the composition of FDI between these modes varies with firm and country characteristics. Firms engaging in greenfield investment are systematically more efficient than those engaging in cross-border acquisitions. Furthermore, most FDI takes the form of cross-border acquisitions when production-cost differences between countries are small, while greenfield investment plays a more important role for FDI from high-cost into low-cost countries. These results capture important features of the data.     

中国居民消费需求不足原因研究——基于中国城乡分省数据

This paper uses Chinese urban and rural panel data for 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities (except Tibet and Taiwan) on the consumption of Chinese urban and rural households in 1995–2005, by constructiong a random effect model, to analyze the impact of sources of household’s consumption demand on the Chinese economy. The quantitative analysis reveals that the per capita disposable income of households is highly relevant in explaining households’ per capita consumption expenditure, in these eleven years, and that China’s consumption function was fairly stable. On the basis of flow of funds accounts (barter transaction) data in 1992–2004, the paper further reveals that, since 1997–1998, China’s consumer demand remains in the doldrums because of the following distribution and redistribution process of the national income: The Government’s share of total income and disposable income is becoming ever larger, while the share of households is declining. Aside from the result that a rise in the burden of personal tuition has a negative impact on per capita consumption demand for urban households, we have not found that housing reform or medical expenses significantly reduce consumer demand in China. We believe that low household consumption demand is caused mainly by the income redistribution between households, government, and corporations rather than the inequality in income distribution across households.     

基于普惠金融发展的家庭网络消费行为研究*

网络消费作为一种新型消费业态和模式，已成为扩大内需的新力量。本文应用Probit模型及处理效应等方法，在普惠金融发展视角下研究了家庭的网络消费行为。结果显示，普惠金融发展显著正向地提升了网络消费家庭的比例和频率，且经过渐进的增长，网络消费家庭的总消费水平更高、消费结构较优，在城镇家庭里更明显。而通过便利支付、缓解流动性约束、提高家庭收入三种机制，普惠金融发展还提升了这些家庭的网络消费支出额。异质性分析也得出了一系列丰富的结论。加深家庭金融参与程度，加快地区数字普惠金融的发展，帮助老年群体、低收入群体迈过数字鸿沟，能更大程度上普及网络消费，进一步扩大内需。     

ASPECTS OF POVERTY IN GREECE

Poverty in Greece is measured and decomposed using the primary consumption expenditure data of two Greek Household Expenditure Surveys (1974, 1981/82). Poverty is found to be associated with particular characteristics of the household or the household head. These characteristics are residence in rural areas, large household size, low educational level and old age of the household head. Poverty is also very high among members of households headed by farmers and retired persons. Both absolute and relative poverty declined substantially between 1974 and 1982. Changes in the structure of the population had a positive effect on poverty alleviation.     

MEASURES OF TOTAL HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION

By expenditure on education, health, housing and other public services, governments provide many goods and services which are alternatives to, or additional to, household expenditure on consumption. In most Western national accounts, the two forms of consumption are rigidly separated. Yet the combination of the two–the concept of total household consumption–has obvious importance for the measurement and comparison of living standards and for the formulation and analysis of policy. This concept is recommended as an additional aggregate in the revised SNA. It is displayed in the UN International Comparison Project (ICP). It is used as a major aggregate ("total consumption of the population"), although hitherto generally excluding nonmaterial services, in the Material Product System. Yet it is rarely shown explicitly in Western national accounts. One reason is the slow progress in the analysis by purpose of government expenditure.
This paper shows how far figures of total household consumption, and of its division between collective and private consumption, can in fact be derived, for the advanced countries, from the data provided to the UN Yearbook of National Accounts , supplemented b y the ICP. The results show first the wide national variations in the relation between the two forms of consumption but, secondly, the gaps in information on this crucially important topic. The relation between direct government expenditure for collective consumption and transfer payments to households ("social income") is also examined. High and low levels of these two forms of State support to consumption reinforce each other almost as often as they offset each other. But, again, the data provided by national accounting statistics are very incomplete.
This paper was prepared for the 16th General Conference of the IARIW, August 1979.     

老龄化如何影响我国家庭消费支出——来自中国综合社会调查的证据

基于中国综合社会调查（CGSS)的数据，本文谨慎定义老龄家庭后实证检验了老龄化对我国家庭消费支出的影响。研究发现，老龄化将使家庭消费支出显著下降并对大多数消费分项支出产生较大负面影响，同时会大幅提升家庭医疗服务支出；收入是老龄化影响家庭消费的重要中间变量。基于城乡分类子样本研究发现，乡村家庭受老龄化冲击异常严重，乡村医疗服务供给存在较大缺口。基于分层的城镇子样本回归发现，老龄化对城镇家庭消费的冲击集中体现在较低分位家庭。     

Does urbanization reduce rural poverty? Evidence from Vietnam

This paper uses data from household surveys to contribute to the urbanization-poverty nexus literature by assessing the effect of urbanization on income, expenditure, and poverty in rural households in Vietnam. We find that the urbanization process stimulates the transition from farm to non-farm activities in rural areas. More specifically, urbanization tends to reduce farm income and increase wages and non-farm income in rural households. This suggests that total income and consumption expenditure of rural households are more likely to increase with urbanization. Finally, we find also that urbanization helps decrease the expenditure poverty rate of rural households, albeit by a small magnitude.     

Using inverted Engel curves to estimate material standards of living in a household

This article demonstrates how to estimate latent total consumption expenditure or material standard of living in households by inverting estimated Engel curves. While the conventional estimator, total purchase expenditure, is unbiased for latent total household consumption expenditure, it is not variance minimizing since it is an un-weighted sum. In two stages, this article derives a variance-minimizing, unbiased estimator by first estimating and inverting Engel curves; then combining the estimators from the inverted Engel curves. The employed latent variable method allows for utilization of non-expenditure relations. The suggested method may help improve the accuracy in studies of consumption inequality and tax evasion.      

Labour participation of Arab women: estimates of the fertility to labour supply link

The standard theoretical framework for analysing households’ intertemporal decisions is the life-cycle/permanent income model. Among its implications, testing the model allows to analyse the response of consumption to fiscal policy. However, the empirical literature with microdata has yielded mixed results. This article examines the sensitivity of the results to the assumption of separability among goods and of homogeneity across households. For that purpose, we test a rational expectations permanent income model with household data drawn from the Spanish Family Expenditure Survey. This survey contains detailed information on total expenditure and the income presents large, exogenous quarterly changes due to an institutional feature. The article shows that assuming separability among commodities biases the test against the model. When separability is not imposed, we show that the rejection of the model depends on heterogeneity across households in terms of their members being unemployed or not. For those households permanently employed, the model cannot be rejected whatever their income status.     

Revenue and Progressivity Neutral Changes in the Tax Mix

There has been much debate about the redistributive implications of a consumption tax and the treatment of low income households. This article presents a general model which allows for the interdependence between income and consumption taxes, while allowing for transfer payments to the low paid. The appropriate adjustment of transfer payments in response to a change in the tax mix, in order to maintain a fixed real value of transfers, is examined. The use of exemptions, of those goods for which the proportion of expenditure falls as total household expenditure rises, in order to increase the progressivity of consumption taxes is also considered. The model enables changes in the tax mix, which are both revenue and progressivity neutral, to be devised.     

Cross-border mergers in vertically related industries

We construct a tractable model of an oligopolistic industry that allows us to capture the role of the vertical structure in the incentives for and implications of cross-border horizontal mergers. We show that vertical integration can increase the gains from cross-border mergers. We also demonstrate how market concentration interacts with costs in the decision of a relatively efficient foreign firm located in one country (source) to merge with a disintegrated or an integrated firm in another country (target) when the industry is vertically related. Absent any merger incentives in an autarkic equilibrium, we demonstrate that vertical integration can raise the incentives for diversification in production and add to the gains from cross-border horizontal mergers. Any additional gain from cross-border horizontal mergers, due to the existence of a vertically integrated production structure, is shown to be sensitive to the relative market concentration across countries. Cross-border mergers will be triggered by a relatively cost-efficient source taking over a disintegrated target when pre-merger competition among the disintegrated firms is relatively intense but, otherwise, the initial target will be a vertically integrated firm.     

An intertemporal analysis of expenditure elasticities under three expenditure specifications for Sri Lanka

Household income has been identified as one of the major determinants of demand for household goods. In addition, other household characteristics, such as household size and composition are also found to be important factors that influence household consumption decisions. This study, using four waves (2006/07, 2009/10, 2012/13 and 2016) of Sri Lankan Household Income and Expenditure Survey data, estimates three different specifications (namely, household expenditure, per-capita expenditure and expenditure per equivalent adult) of a complete system of Box-Cox Engel curves to incorporate household size and compositional differences into the model specification. A comparison of elasticity estimates across the three specifications indicates that amongst the three, the best performing model is the one utilizing household expenditure. An intertemporal analysis of expenditure elasticities indicates that although the magnitude of expenditure elasticities has changed, the necessity or luxury classification of household commodities has mostly remained unchanged for the period 2006 ? 2016 in Sri Lanka.     

Is there a retirement consumption puzzle in Japan? Evidence from a household panel dataset spanning several years

Using a unique long-run panel of Japanese households, this paper examines the changes in consumption at retirement (‘the retirement-consumption puzzle’). Our analysis shows that households’ expenditure does decline after the retirement of the household head and that changes in household composition at retirement cannot fully account for this decline. Changes in life-style/preferences after retirement also do not appear to explain a salient feature of the expenditure decline, namely, the strong correlation between the magnitudes of the expenditure decline and the income decline upon retirement. On the other hand, our finding that the expenditure decline is larger for households with smaller savings and/or that experienced a large unexpected income decline is broadly consistent with the standard LC/PIH augmented with unexpected shocks, while it does not rule out the possibility that there is a relatively small subset of households that are myopic and lack sufficient saving discipline.     

Back to Engel? Some evidence for the hierarchy of needs

Using UK household expenditure data spanning over four decades (1960–2000), this paper employs Engel’s needs-based approach to analyzing household expenditure patterns and finds evidence for the existence of a stable hierarchy of expenditure patterns at low levels of household income. Second, we investigate how rising household income influences the manner in which total expenditure is distributed across Engel’s expenditure categories. Our results suggest that i) total household expenditure is distributed across Engel’s expenditure categories in an increasingly even manner as household income increases and ii) over time, there has been an acceleration in the rate at which household expenditure patterns become diversified as household income rises. Finally, we consider how the shape of Engel Curves may help shed light on the relationship between goods and the underlying needs they serve.