Economies of Scale in Household Consumption
Copyright by Victoria Konstantinova Vernon 2004
The Dissertation Committee for Victoria Konstantinova Vernon certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation:
Household Economies of Scale, Food Consumption and Intra-Household Allocation of Time
Committee:
Li Gan, Supervisor
Daniel Hamermesh
Richard Dusansky
Douglas Dacy
Hong Yan
Household Economies of Scale, Food Consumption and Intra-Household Allocation of Time by Victoria Konstantinova Vernon, dipl.; M.A.
Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor Of Philosophy
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUTSIN
December 2004
Household Economies of Scale, Food Consumption and Intra-Household Allocation of Time
Publication No. ___________________
Victoria Konstantinova Vernon, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2004
Supervisor: Li Gan
This thesis presents and empirically tests three utility theoretic models of the household behavior. Larger households economize money and time by sharing expenses and specializing labor within and outside of the home. A “paradox” arises when the budget share of food declines with household size in the consumer expenditure survey data contradicting the Barten model prediction that per capita food consumption should increase with household size. I test the Barten model in the expenditure data from the U.S., South Africa and Russia, and show that the share of food increases relative to a more public good and decreases relative to a more private good. This suggests food is less private than the composite of all other goods in the household budget; the likely public component of food being food preparation time. Extending the model to
incorporate time, I explain the food consumption paradox: larger households choose more time intensive meals, thus per capita expenditures on food decline with
The Dissertation Committee for Victoria Konstantinova Vernon certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation:
Household Economies of Scale, Food Consumption and Intra-Household Allocation of Time
Committee:
Li Gan, Supervisor
Daniel Hamermesh
Richard Dusansky
Douglas Dacy
Hong Yan
Household Economies of Scale, Food Consumption and Intra-Household Allocation of Time by Victoria Konstantinova Vernon, dipl.; M.A.
Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor Of Philosophy
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUTSIN
December 2004
Household Economies of Scale, Food Consumption and Intra-Household Allocation of Time
Publication No. ___________________
Victoria Konstantinova Vernon, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2004
Supervisor: Li Gan
This thesis presents and empirically tests three utility theoretic models of the household behavior. Larger households economize money and time by sharing expenses and specializing labor within and outside of the home. A “paradox” arises when the budget share of food declines with household size in the consumer expenditure survey data contradicting the Barten model prediction that per capita food consumption should increase with household size. I test the Barten model in the expenditure data from the U.S., South Africa and Russia, and show that the share of food increases relative to a more public good and decreases relative to a more private good. This suggests food is less private than the composite of all other goods in the household budget; the likely public component of food being food preparation time. Extending the model to
incorporate time, I explain the food consumption paradox: larger households choose more time intensive meals, thus per capita expenditures on food decline with