Estimation of income elasticities from Lorenz concentration curves: application to Canadian micro‐data

This study uses a method of estimating income elasticities of major Canadian expenditure groups. The technique is based on the implicit Engel functions derived from the Lorenz curve of permanent income and concentration curves of group‐specific expenditures. The methodology is applied to The 1996 Canadian Family Expenditure Survey. Results indicate that income elasticities for the majority of the broad expenditure categories considered in the study are inelastic and they increase monotonically with income.     

Old-Young Differences in Consumer Expenditure Patterns

It has been claimed that transfer payments to retired people reduce aggregate private saving. In their attempts to understand this issue, some writers have called for additional research to clarify the spending behavior of the older and younger households. The present paper uses regression analysis to examine the old-young differences in expenditure patterns as revealed by the 1972–73 BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. With data limitations noted, the findings suggest that, for consumer units headed by older (65+) and younger (<65) persons, the marginal and average propensities to spend relative to after-tax income were virtually the same when estimated at the mean values of their respective characteristics, such as after-tax income and family size. The statistical model utilized also suggests that, if given the older units' mean values for these characteristics, the younger group would have exhibited higher propensities to spend than the older.     

Windfall Income and the Permanent Income Hypothesis: New Evidence

This paper examines consumer response to windfall income. By using data from the 1972–73 Consumer Expenditure Surveys, an attempt was made to test Friedman's permanent income hypothesis. The results revealed that the marginal propensity to consume regular income was greater than the marginal propensity to consume windfall income for windfalls that were large relative to regular income. However, when windfall income was less than ten percent of regular income, the relationship reversed. Implications are drawn for short and long-run fiscal policies affecting consumers     

IMPACT OF INCOME AND WIFE'S EDUCATION ON FAMILY CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES

Data from the 1972–73 Consumer Expenditure Surveys were used to investigate whether wife's education influences family expenditure once the effects of income and other factors are taken into account. The double-log function was used in the multiple regression analysis of fifteen consumption expenditure categories. Education and income elasticities were also compared. Wife's education was influential in determining family consumption expenditures even after taking family income and other factors into account.     

The Distribution of U.S. Income and Food Expenditures

Food expenditure and income distributions over 1980–1985 are examined using two welfare criteria: less inequality and more available resources. Intertemporal changes in the distributions are studied from the perspectives of inequality, relative economic affluence, society's satisfaction with the distributions, asymmetries, and average propensities to spend. Major conclusions are that inequality has increased over time in both the income and food spending distributions, relative economic affluence has generally risen, society is less satisfied with the food spending distribution, and average propensities to spend on food have been constant.     

Consumption patterns among ethnic groups in Canada

Canadian ethnic differences in consumption patterns were examined using the Canadian 1990 Survey of Family Expenditures. Tobit analysis was used to estimate the income elasticities of 14 expenditure categories. The results indicate that spending patterns differ significantly among the different groups in Canada.     

Private consumption and cyclical asymmetries in the euro area

Experience after the establishment of EMU shows that the behaviour of private consumers differs considerably among member countries and that average and marginal propensities to consume are fairly heterogeneous. In particular, there are clear differences between Germany and the rest of the euro area. These asymmetric consumption functions may be responsible for cyclical divergences within the currency area. The following paper presents an econometric analysis of the available data.     

政府公共文化支出对家庭文化消费的影响研究——基于中国家庭追踪调查的分析

政府在促进文化消费中发挥重要作用。基于中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)2014年和2016年的家庭经济数据,利用Tobit模型实证分析了政府公共文化支出对家庭文化消费的影响,以及该影响在城镇和农村家庭、不同收入水平家庭中表现出的异质性。研究表明:政府公共文化支出增加有助于提高家庭文娱支出占比,且在缩尾处理和更换关键变量的稳健性检验中,核心结论仍然成立;但是,政府公共文化支出对文化消费的挤入效应主要局限于城镇家庭及中低收入家庭,对农村家庭、低收入和中高收入家庭的刺激作用不显著。应继续扩大文化事业财政支出规模,优化公共文化服务资源配置,重点扶持农村文化娱乐消费,同时提高文化产品和服务供给质量。     

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.     

支出型贫困家庭致贫因素的微观视角分析和救助机制研究

改变以往仅从收入角度衡量低收入家庭困难程度且按照单一的救助标准进行救助的方法,提出从收入和支出两方面来衡量贫困,以刚性支出大于收入作为界定贫困的标准。运用非均衡增长模型和公共支出微观增长模型来分析支出型贫困形成的原因,设计一整套评估指标体系,利用AHP方法(层次分析法)评估支出型贫困家庭的困难程度,并根据家庭贫困类别、贫困程度等级和实际脱贫能力,设计对应的救助力度和救助套餐。     

我国居民消费现状分析及未来趋势预测

使用扩展线性支出系统模型（ELES）对我国居民2009年的消费情况和结构进行了分析,通过恩格尔系数、边际消费倾向等参数的计算和分析,得到2009年的消费水平和消费结构。据此对2011年中国居民的消费量和消费结构进行了预测,并据此提出相关政策建议。     

Gains and Losses from Preferential Trade Agreements: Some Evidence from NAFTA

In this article we integrate two topics in international trade policy that have received (separately) a lot of attention: the effects of regional trade blocs, and export pessimism regarding poorer countries. The specific issue that allows us to bring together these questions is whether regional integration adversely affects non-members. We use quarterly data on bilateral trade flows for the period 1990 through 1997 to examine U.S. imports from its NAFTA partners as well as from non-NAFTA trade partners, and more specifically, those countries expected to be hurt by NAFTA. Two measures are used:

1. “import penetration” or imports from a particular source as a share of US GDP, and

2. the income elasticity of expenditure on imports from a particular source. Both “import penetration” and the income elasticity of expenditure affect the export earnings of U.S. trade partners, a matter of particular concern for developing countries.

The broadest pattern observed in the income-expenditure elasticities is clear evidence of increased penetration by non-oil developing countries. This is in marked contrast to the stable GDP share and expenditure elasticity for developed country imports. Regional results suggest that the Caribbean and the East Asian NICs were the only area groupings that experienced a reduction in income-expenditure elasticity. But overall on the basis of U.S. income-expenditure elasticities it appears that the first four years of NAFTA were associated with trade expansion rather than trade diversion.     

Trade-Offs Between Purchased Services and Time in Single-Parent and Two-Parent Families

This research examines the influence of marital status on the demand for services using a model in which the demand for market services and mothers' time spent in related household activities are jointly determined. Three specific areas of market services are investigated: meals prepared away from home, child care, and housekeeping. In multivariate systems analyses in which mothers' household work time and purchased services were simultaneously determined, families headed by single mothers were found to (a) purchase more meals prepared away from home and (b) be more likely to purchase child care and housekeeping services than their two-parent counterparts holding income and other factors constant.     

Budget Allocation Patterns of U.S. Households across Income Levels in the 21st Century

This study examined the budget allocation patterns of U.S. households during the period 2000–2015. Four household groups—classified based on their income levels in relation to the federal poverty level—are used for the analyses. Data from the quarterly interview component of the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey were used in order to calculate households' annual expenditures in eight commodity groups: food, utilities, apparel and apparel services, transportation, medical care, shelter and household operations, other nondurable expenditures and services, and durable goods. An exact affine stone index (EASI) demand system was used to estimate demand relationships (i.e., price, income elasticities, and marginal effects). Overall, we find that budget allocation, consumers' responses to changes in prices and income, and the effects of sociodemographic characteristics on spending can be markedly different between income groups. The use of a representative or average household for demand analyses can mask substantial differences in economic behaviors between these four income groups.     

基于凯恩斯消费函数的中美消费差异实证分析

本文将1986—2005年中国、美国消费与收入的相关数据与凯恩斯绝对收入假说理论进行了实证分析,对计量模型进行了参数估计和检验,通过建立居民的消费收入模型,得出了我国居民平均边际消费倾向低于美国居民的结论,并对如何鼓励消费政策提出了相应政策建议。     

Ein Grundeinkommen für Kinder

Children in Germany are disproportionately threatened by poverty. And despite the favourable macroeconomic situation, families rely increasingly on social assistance. The federal government wants to increase additional child benefits and reduce the marginal transfer withdrawal rate, which will increase the marginal burden on the middle class. To solve this dilemma, this article suggests increasing child benefits to approximately 400 Euro. The transfer withdrawal rate and the burden on small income families would decrease and administrative expenses would go down. The article also discusses the effects on income distribution, labour market incentives and fiscal policies.     

Consumer Unit Types and Expenditures on Food Away from Home

This paper explores the relationship between consumer unit type and expenditures on food away from home using microdata from the 1989 Consumer Expenditure Survey. A log-linear model is used to purge the effects of income and race/ethnicity from the consumer unit type/food-away-from-home expenditure relationship. The income-and race/ethnicity-controlled propensities to purchase food away from home among eight consumer unit types are revealed in simple percentage form. These adjusted percentages are discussed in regard to current and future business strategy designed to address industrywide declines in expenditures on food away from home. The results offer support for some existing strategies as well as provide the basis for viable alternatives. Log-linear purging is shown to be a valuable tool for consumer researchers.     

社会基本医疗保险对家庭消费的影响

文章利用北京大学CFPS调查2010、2012年两期平衡面板数据,以双重差分-倾向匹配法构造了反实事分析框架,估计基本医疗保险对家庭消费支出的影响。研究结果显示,医保政策对于居民消费具有促进作用,医保带动农村消费的同时也加重了农村家庭医疗支出负担;从分收入层次看,医保对于农村低收入家庭的消费支出正向影响显著且大于城镇低收入家庭。     

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION AND MARKET EMPLOYMENT: DUAL AVENUES OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

A theoretical model of the economics of production and consumption within the household is developed into an empirical path model. With data from a representative Iowa sample the impact of household production on expenditure patterns is examined with estimates of the implied income equivalence or marginal value of nonmarket production.