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Engel’s Law Around the World 150 Years Later

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  • Richard Anker

Abstract

One of the most enduring relationships in economics is that proposed by Ernst Engel in 1857: “The poorer is a family, the greater is the proportion of the total outgo [family expenditures] which must be used for food. … The proportion of the outgo used for food, other things being equal is the best measure of the material standard of living of a population.” The 150th anniversary of Engel’s law passed in 2007. With this in mind, the present paper looks at the extent to which Engel’s law is relevant in today’s world by looking across countries at the relationship between the share of household expenditure spent on food and national income per capita. This working paper provides an empirical analysis of Engel’s law based on data for almost every country and territory in the world. This facilitates analysis of the relationship between the food share of household expenditure and national income per capita, especially how this differs by development level.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Anker, 2011. "Engel’s Law Around the World 150 Years Later," Working Papers wp247, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    • Handle: RePEc:uma:periwp:wp247
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    File URL: https://per.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/working_papers/working_papers_201-250/WP247.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Indicators 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11855.
    2. -, 2007. "Final results of the International Comparison Program for South America, 2005," Documentos de Proyectos 3628, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    3. World Bank, 2008. "World Development Indicators 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28241.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bachas, Pierre & Gadenne, Lucie & Jensen, Anders, 2020. "Informality, Consumption Taxes and Redistribution," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1277, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    2. Richard Anker & Martha Anker, 2014. "Living Wage Benchmark Report: Rural Southern Malawi (January 2014)," Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC) 14-01-01, Universidad Privada Boliviana.
    3. Parker, Miles, 2018. "How global is “global inflation”?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 174-197.
    4. Richard H. Steckel & Garrett Senney, 2015. "Historical Origins of a Major Killer: Cardiovascular Disease in the American South," NBER Working Papers 21809, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    History of economic thought; Economic history; Consumer economics; Consumption; Measurement and analysis of poverty; Household behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • P46 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty

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