Estimating Consumption Economies of Scale, Adult Equivalence Scales, and Household Bargaining Power

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Browning, Martin; Chiappori, Pierre-Andre; Lewbel, Arthur
• 署名单位: University of Oxford; Columbia University; Boston College
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6527
• DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdt019
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 1267-1303
• 关键词: demand; MODEL; allocation; RESOURCES; MARKET; tests

摘要

How much income would a woman living alone require to attain the same standard of living that she would have if she were married? What percentage of a married couple's expenditures are controlled by the husband? How much money does a couple save on consumption goods by living together versus living apart? We propose and estimate a collective model of household behaviour that permits identification and estimation of concepts such as these. We model households in terms of the utility functions of its members, a bargaining or social welfare function, and a consumption technology function. We demonstrate generic non-parametric identification of the model, and hence of a version of adult equivalence scales that we call indifference scales, as well as consumption economies of scale, the household's resource sharing rule or members' bargaining power, and other related concepts.