Ordinary Least Squares Estimation of the Intrahousehold Distribution of Expenditure

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Lechene, Valerie; Pendakur, Krishna; Wolf, Alex
• 署名单位: University of London; University College London; Simon Fraser University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/717892
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: HOUSEHOLD EQUIVALENCE SCALES; womens empowerment; consumption; identification; CHILDREN; poverty

摘要

We provide a method to estimate resource shares-the fraction of total household expenditure allocated to each household member-using linear (e.g., ordinary least squares) estimation of Engel curves. The method is a linear reframing of the 2013 nonlinear model of Dunbar, Lewbel, and Pendakur, extended to allow single-parent and other complex households, scale economies in assignable goods, and complementarities between nonassignable goods and supplemented with a linear identification test. We apply the model to data from 12 countries and investigate resource shares, gender gaps, and poverty at the individual level. We reject equal sharing and find large gender gaps in resource shares, and consequently in poverty rates, in some countries.