Cereal Consumption Engel Curves and Income in India

Author(s):  
Christian Oldiges
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohtaro Hitomi ◽  
Masamune Iwasawa ◽  
Yoshihiko Nishiyama

Abstract This study investigates optimal minimax rates for specification testing when the alternative hypothesis is built on a set of non-smooth functions. The set consists of bounded functions that are not necessarily differentiable with no smoothness constraints imposed on their derivatives. In the instrumental variable regression set up with an unknown error variance structure, we find that the optimal minimax rate is n−1/4, where n is the sample size. The rate is achieved by a simple test based on the difference between non-parametric and parametric variance estimators. Simulation studies illustrate that the test has reasonable power against various non-smooth alternatives. The empirical application to Engel curves specification emphasizes the good applicability of the test.


Author(s):  
Ochirbat Batbold ◽  
Tuvshin Banzragch ◽  
Davaatseren Davaajargal ◽  
Christy Pu

Background: High out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditures are a common problem in developing countries. Studies rarely investigate the crowding-out effect of OOP health expenditures on other areas of household consumption. OOP health costs are a colossal burden on families and can lead to adjustments in other areas of consumption to cope with these costs. Methods: This cross-sectional study used self-reported household consumption data from the nationally representative Household Socioeconomic Survey (HSES), collected in 2018 by the National Statistical Office of Mongolia. We estimated a quadratic conditional Engel curves system to determine intrahousehold resource allocation among 12 consumption variables. The 3-stage least squared method was used to deal with heteroscedasticity and endogeneity problems to estimate the causal crowding-out effect of OOP. Results: The mean monthly OOP health expenditure per household was ₮64 673 (standard deviation [SD]=259 604), representing approximately 6.9% of total household expenditures. OOP health expenditures were associated with crowding out durables, communication, transportation, and rent, and with crowding in education and heating for all households. The crowding-out effect of ₮10 000 in OOP health expenditures was the largest for food (₮5149, 95% CI=−8582; −1695) and crowding-in effect was largest in heating (₮2691, 95% CI=737; 4649) in the lowest-income households. The effect of heating was more than 10 times greater than that in highest-income households (₮261, 95% CI=66; 454); in the highest-income households, food had a crowding-in effect (₮179, 95% CI=-445; 802) in absolute amounts. In terms of absolute amount, the crowding-out effect for food was up to 5 times greater in households without social health insurance (SHI) than in those with SHI. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Mongolia’s OOP health expenses are associated with reduced essential expenditure on items such as durables, communication, transportation, rent, and food. The effect varies by household income level and SHI status, and the lowest-income families were most vulnerable. SHI in Mongolia may not protect households from large OOP health expenditures.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe De Vreyer ◽  
Sylvie Lambert ◽  
Martin Ravallion
Keyword(s):  

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 225-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Chai ◽  
Alessio Moneta

Engel curves describe how household expenditure on particular goods or services depends on household income. German statistician Ernst Engel (1821–1896) was the first to investigate this relationship systematically in an article published about 150 years ago. The best-known single result from the article is “Engel's law,” which states that the poorer a family is, the larger the budget share it spends on nourishment. We revisit Engel's article, including its context and the mechanics of the argument. Because the article was completed a few decades before linear regression techniques were established and income effects were incorporated into standard consumer theory, Engel was forced to develop his own approach to analyzing household expenditure patterns. We find his work contains some interesting features in juxtaposition to both the modern and classical literature. For example, Engel's way of estimating the expenditure–income relationship resembles a data-fitting technique called the “regressogram” that is nonparametric—in that no functional form is specified before the estimation. Moreover, Engel introduced a way of categorizing household expenditures in which expenditures on commodities that served the same purpose by satisfying the same underlying “want” were grouped together. This procedure enabled Engel to discuss the welfare implications of his results in terms of the Smithian notion that individual welfare is related to the satisfaction of wants. At the same time, he avoided making a priori assumptions about which specific goods were necessities, assumptions which were made by many classical economists like Adam Smith. Finally, we offer a few thoughts about some modern literature that builds on Engel's research.


1996 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Engel ◽  
Alois Kneip
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arik Levinson ◽  
James O’Brien
Keyword(s):  

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