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The economies of scale of living together and how they are shared - Estimates based on a collective household model

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  • Aline Bütikofer
  • Michael Gerfin

Abstract

How large are the economies of scale of living together? And how do partners share their resources? The first question is usually answered by equivalence scales. Traditional estimation and application of equivalence scales assumes equal sharing of income within the household. This paper uses data on financial satisfaction to simultaneously estimate the sharing rule and the economy of scale parameter in a collective household model. The estimates indicate substantial scale economies of living together, especially for couples who have lived together for some time. On average, wives receive almost 50% of household resources, but there is heterogeneity with respect to the wives contribution to household income and the duration of the relationship.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft in its series Diskussionsschriften with number dp0903.

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Date of creation: Jul 2009
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Handle: RePEc:ube:dpvwib:dp0903

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Keywords: Collective Household Models; Sharing Rule; Equivalence Scale; Subjective data;

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  1. Martin Browning & Pierre-Andrée 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 01 Sep 2010.
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  22. repec:dgr:uvatin:20060047 is not listed on IDEAS
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