The Effect of the Period that Turkey is going Through on the Household Expenditures of Burdur Province: Engel Curve Analysis

Consumers need a variety of goods and services in order to maintain their lives. The consumption patterns of consumers can vary depending on the differences in geographical and socio-economic structure, the time period during which the analysis takes place and the specific circumstances that the country is going through. For this reason, the relationship between income and expenditure has been subject to many studies till today. The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of the geographical diversity and the special situation that Turkey is going through on the household consumption patterns of the Burdur province. In this study, income & expenditure relations of twelve expenditure groups and their position in total expenditures and income elasticity of these expenditure groups shall be estimated with the help of Engel functions by using the data obtained from questionnaires implemented on randomly selected 695 households residing in Center County of Burdur Province between the dates January 03, 2017 and February 28, 2017.As a result of the analysis, it has been found that food and non-alcoholic beverages, alcohol and tobacco products, housing expenses, health services, communication and clothing and foot-wear expenditure groups are in the obligatory class of goods; furniture, home appliances and home care services, culture and entertainment, educational expenses, and restaurant and hotel expenses are in luxury goods class. Therefore, it has been reached to conclusion that the period that Turkey is going through does not have any effect on the household income-consumption pattern of Burdur province.