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Economic Well-being and Poverty among the Elderly: an Analysis Based on a Collective Consumption Model

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Author Info
Laurens Cherchye
Bram De Rock
Frederic Vermeulen

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Abstract

We apply the collective consumption model of Browning, Chiappori and Lewbel (2006) to analyse economic well-being and poverty among the elderly. The model focuses on individual preferences, a consumption technology that captures the economies of scale of living in a couple, and a sharing rule that governs the intra-household allocation of resources. The model is applied to a time series of Dutch consumption expenditure surveys. Our empirical results indicate substantial economies of scale and a wife's share that is increasing in total expenditures. We further calculated poverty rates by means of the collective consumption model. Collective poverty rates of widows and widowers turn out to be slightly lower than traditional ones based on a standard equivalence scale. Poverty among women (men) in elderly couples, however, seems to be heavily underestimated (overestimated) by the traditional approach. Finally, we analysed the impact of becoming a widow(er). Based on cross-sectional evidence, we find that the drop (increase) in material well-being following the husband's death is substantial for women in high (low) expenditure couples. For men, the picture is reversed.

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Paper provided by Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecares in its series ECARES Working Papers with number 2008_026.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:eca:wpaper:2008_026

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Related research
Keywords: collective model; intra-household allocation; indi¤erence scales; economies of scale; poverty;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, 1992. "Collective Labor Supply and Welfare," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 437-67, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Smeeding, Timothy M & Sullivan, Dennis H, 1998. "Generations and the Distribution of Economic Well-Being: A Cross-National View," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 254-58, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Martin Browning & Pierre-AndrŽe Chiappori & Arthur Lewbel, 2004. "Estimating Consumption Economies of Scale, Adult Equivalence Scales, and Household Bargaining Power," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 588, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 04 Sep 2006. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Lewbel, Arthur, 2003. "Calculating compensation in cases of wrongful death," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 115-128, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Angus Deaton & Christina Paxson, 1995. "Measuring Poverty Among the Elderly," NBER Working Papers 5296, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Vermeulen, Frederic, 2002. " Collective Household Models: Principles and Main Results," Journal of Economic Surveys, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 16(4), pages 533-64, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2003. "Measuring the Well-Being of the Poor Using Income and Consumption," NBER Working Papers 9760, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Blundell, Richard & Robin, Jean Marc, 1999. "Estimation in Large and Disaggregated Demand Systems: An Estimator for Conditionally Linear Systems," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(3), pages 209-32, May-June. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Browning, Martin & Francois Bourguignon & Pierre-Andre Chiappori & Valerie Lechene, 1994. "Income and Outcomes: A Structural Model of Intrahousehold Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1067-96, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. FRANÇOIS BOURGUIGNON & MARTIN BROWNING & PIERRE-ANDRÉ CHIAPPORI, 2009. "Efficient Intra-Household Allocations and Distribution Factors: Implications and Identification," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 76(2), pages 503-528, 04. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Lundberg, S.J. & Pollak, R.A. & Wales, T.J., 1994. "Do Husbands and Wives Pool Their Resources? Evidence from U.K. Child Benefit," Working Papers 94-6, University of Washington, Department of Economics.
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  12. Laurens Cherchye & Bram De Rock & Frederic Vermeulen, 2007. "The Collective Model of Household Consumption: A Nonparametric Characterization," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(2), pages 553-574, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Michael Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2006. "Economic Well-Being at Older Ages: Income- and Consumption-Based Poverty Measures in the HRS," Working Papers 410, RAND Corporation Publications Department. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Coder, John & Rainwater, Lee & Smeeding, Timothy M, 1989. "Inequality among Children and Elderly in Ten Modern Nations: The United States in an International Context," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 320-24, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Cherchye, Laurens & Vermeulen, Frederic, 2006. "Nonparametric analysis of household labor supply: goodness-of-fit and power of the unitary and the collective model," Discussion Paper 13, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  16. M. Browning & P. A. Chiappori, 1998. "Efficient Intra-Household Allocations: A General Characterization and Empirical Tests," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(6), pages 1241-1278, November.
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  17. Hurd, Michael D, 1990. "Research on the Elderly: Economic Status, Retirement, and Consumption and Saving," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 28(2), pages 565-637, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-26, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Richard Blundell & Pierre-André Chiappori & Costas Meghir, 2005. "Collective Labor Supply with Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(6), pages 1277-1306, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. James Banks & Richard Blundell & Arthur Lewbel, 1997. "Quadratic Engel Curves And Consumer Demand," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(4), pages 527-539, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Browning, Martin & Meghir, Costas, 1991. "The Effects of Male and Female Labor Supply on Commodity Demands," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(4), pages 925-51, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Fortin, Bernard & Lacroix, Guy, 1997. "A Test of the Unitary and Collective Models of Household Labour Supply," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(443), pages 933-55, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Gary V. Engelhardt & Jonathan Gruber, 2004. "Social Security and the Evolution of Elderly Poverty," NBER Working Papers 10466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, 1988. "Rational Household Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(1), pages 63-90, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Slesnick, Daniel T, 1993. "Gaining Ground: Poverty in the Postwar United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(1), pages 1-38, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Arthur Lewbel & Krishna Pendakur, 2008. "Estimation of Collective Household Models With Engel Curves," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 694, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Martina Menon & Federico Perali & Luca Piccoli, 2008. "The passive drinking effect: Evidence from Italy," PSE Working Papers 2008-33, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  3. Bütikofer, Aline & Gerfin, Michael, 2009. "The Economies of Scale of Living Together and How They Are Shared: Estimates Based on a Collective Household Model," IZA Discussion Papers 4327, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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