Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15924
Authors: Rossella Calvi; Jacob Penglase; Denni Tommasi; Alexander Wolf
Abstract: In large families, individuals must share resources with many others, but may benefit from economies of scale. This paper studies individual consumption in different types of households, with a focus on family structures that are common in developing countries. Based on a collective household model, we develop a methodology to identify intra-household resource allocation and the extent of joint consumption. We apply our methodology using data from Bangladesh and Mexico and compute poverty rates for men, women, and children. Contrary to existing poverty calculations that ignore either intra-household inequality or economies of scale in consumption, ours account for both dimensions.
Keywords: collective model; household bargaining; resource shares; scale economies; Barten scales; indifference scales; poverty
JEL Codes: D13; D11; D12; C31; I32
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| household size (D10) | individual share of household budget (D12) |
| household size (D10) | economies of scale in consumption (D16) |
| economies of scale in consumption (D16) | individual consumption in extended families (D10) |
| household size (D10) | relative consumption of private vs shareable goods (D16) |
| allocation of resources (D61) | gender differences in resource allocation (D13) |
| allocation of resources (D61) | children's share of resources (J13) |