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Unpacking Household Engel Curves

Author

Listed:
  • Philippe de Vreyer

    (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres)

  • Sylvie Lambert

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris)

  • Martin Ravallion

    (GU - Georgetown University [Washington])

Abstract

Acknowledging that decision making does not happen at the household but at the individual level, can house- hold Engel curves be safely estimated based solely on household-level data? Answering this question requires considering the intra-household Engel curves (IECs) and assessing how estimates of such IECs relate to standard household Engel curves estimates. Aggregating the IECs to the household level reveals confounding factors in standard household Engel curves, including intra-household inequality. A unique data set for Senegal is used to estimate IECs. Large discrepancies are found between the standard estimates of Engel curves and the con- sistently aggregated IECs. The main source of the discrepancy is a household fixed effect on intra-household spending behavior, which is only partially offset by differences in intra-household inequality. Results suggest that income elasticity of food consumption might be overestimated by as much as 43 percent by the standard household Engel curve estimation.

Suggested Citation

  • Philippe de Vreyer & Sylvie Lambert & Martin Ravallion, 2025. "Unpacking Household Engel Curves," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-05366215, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-05366215
    DOI: 10.1093/wber/lhaf031
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    Cited by:

    1. Clemens, Michael A., 2020. "The Emigration Life Cycle: How Development Shapes Emigration from Poor Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 13614, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Calvi, Rossella & Penglase, Jacob & Tommasi, Denni & Wolf, Alexander, 2023. "The more the poorer? Resource sharing and scale economies in large families," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    3. Kabeya Clement Mulamba, 2022. "Relationship between households’ share of food expenditure and income across South African districts: a multilevel regression analysis," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Rossella Calvi & Jacob Penglase & Denni Tommasi & Alexander Wolf, 2020. "Resource Sharing and Scale Economies in Large Families," SoDa Laboratories Working Paper Series 2020-09, Monash University, SoDa Laboratories.
    5. Echeverría, Lucía, 2020. "Modelos colectivos de consumo y distribución intra-hogar. Teoría y aplicaciones," Nülan. Deposited Documents 3832, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    6. Emilia Madudova & Tatiana Corejova, 2023. "The Issue of Measuring Household Consumption Expenditure," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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