Estimates of household size economies are needed for the analysis of poverty and inequality. This paper shows that Engel estimates of size economies are large when household expenditures are obtained by respondent recall but small when expenditures are obtained by daily recording in diaries. Expenditure estimates from recall surveys appear to have measurement errors correlated with household size. As well as demonstrating the fragility of Engel estimates of size economies, these results help resolve a puzzle raised by Deaton and Paxson (1998) about differences between rich and poor countries in the effect of household size on food demand.
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Paper provided by University of Waikato, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers in Economics with number
02/02.
Length: 19 pages Date of creation: 30 Jan 2002 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:wai:econwp:02/02
Note: Published in "Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics", 64(4) September 2002, pp.341-59. Contact details of provider: Postal: Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand Phone: 64 7 838 4045 (Administrator) Fax: 64 7 838 4331 Web page: http://www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/econ More information through EDIRC
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Find related papers by JEL classification: C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Microeconomic Data I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
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