Equivalent-expenditure functions and expenditure-dependent equivalence scales

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Donaldson, D; Pendakur, K
• 署名单位: University of British Columbia; Simon Fraser University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/S0047-2727(02)00134-2
• 发表日期: 2004
• 页码: 175-208
• 关键词: equivalent-expenditure functions; equivalence scales

摘要

This paper presents and investigates a new class of equivalent-expenditure functions that is a generalization of the one that corresponds to exact (independent-of-base) equivalence scales. It provides less restrictive household demands, especially for children's goods, and has associated equivalence scales that may depend on expenditure. We show that, under certain conditions, equivalent-expenditure functions and the associated expenditure-dependent equivalence scales can be uniquely estimated from demand data. We estimate them using Canadian data and find that the resulting scales are both plausible and expenditure dependent. The estimated equivalence scales for households with children decline significantly as expenditure increases. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.