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On the distributional properties of household consumption expenditures. The case of Italy

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Author Info
Giorgio Fagiolo
Lucia Alessi
Matteo Barigozzi
Marco Capasso

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Abstract

In this paper we explore the statistical properties of the distributions of consumption expenditures for a large sample of Italian households in the period 1989-2004. Goodness-of-fit tests show that household aggregate (and age-conditioned) consumption distributions are not log-normal. Rather, their logs can be invariably characterized by asymmetric exponential-power densities. Departures from log-normality are mainly due to the presence of thick lower tails coexisting with upper tails thinner than Gaussian ones. The emergence of this irreducible heterogeneity in statistical patterns casts some doubts on the attempts to explain log-normality of household consumption patterns by means of simple models based on Gibrat's Law applied to permanent income and marginal utility.

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Paper provided by Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy in its series LEM Papers Series with number 2007/24.

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Date of creation: 07 Nov 2007
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Handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2007/24

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Related research
Keywords: Consumption; Asymmetric Exponential-Power Distribution; Income Distribution; Log-Normal Distribution; Gibrat's Law;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
C12 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Hypothesis Testing

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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. Lerner, Abba P, 1972. "The Economics and Politics of Consumer Sovereignty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(2), pages 258-66, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Scott E. Page, 1996. "Two measures of difficulty (*)," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 321-346.
  3. Sendhil Mullainathan & Joshua Schwartzstein & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "Coarse Thinking and Persuasion," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 123(2), pages 577-619, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Page, Scott E, 1996. "Two Measures of Difficulty," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 321-46, August.
  5. repec:bep:thecon:v:8:y:2008:i:1:p:1357-1357 is not listed on IDEAS
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  6. JuanD. Carrillo & Micael Castanheira, 2008. "Information and Strategic Political Polarisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(530), pages 845-874, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. McKelvey, Richard D, 1979. "General Conditions for Global Intransitivities in Formal Voting Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(5), pages 1085-1112, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Matteo Barigozzi & Lucia Alessi & Marco Capasso & Giorgio Fagiolo, 2008. "The Distribution of Consumption-Expenditure Budget Shares. Evidence from Italian Households," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2008-09, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group. [Downloadable!]
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