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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. repec:wbk:wbpubs:11855 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. repec:wbk:wbpubs:28241 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Pierre Bachas & Lucie Gadenne & Anders Jensen, 2024. "Informality, Consumption Taxes, and Redistribution," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(5), pages 2604-2634.
    3. Castellani, Davide & Tavoni, Alessandro & D'Odorico, Paolo, 2026. "An empirical socio-economic indicator of country-level food security," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 140358, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    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.
    5. Parker, Miles, 2018. "How global is “global inflation”?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 174-197.
    6. John Sender & Christopher Cramer & Carlos Oya, 2018. "Identifying the most deprived in rural Ethiopia and Uganda: a simple measure of socio-economic deprivation," Journal of Eastern African Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 594-612, July.

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      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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