Working Paper: NBER ID: w21697
Authors: Shari Eli; Nicholas Li
Abstract: How much do calorie requirements vary across households and how do they affect food consumption patterns? Since caloric intake is a widely-used indicator of poverty and welfare, investigating changes in caloric requirements and food consumption patterns is important, especially for the poor. Combining anthropometric and time-use data for India, we construct a quantitative measure of individual and household caloric requirements. We then link our estimates of caloric requirements with consumption data to examine how caloric requirements coupled with household expenditures shape food demand. Our applications include the measurement of hunger and the role of caloric requirements in explaining food consumption puzzles related to household-scale and changes in caloric intake over time.
Keywords: caloric requirements; food consumption; poverty; welfare; India
JEL Codes: I31; I32; J1; O1; O53; R2
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| variation in caloric requirements across households (D10) | food consumption patterns in India (D18) |
| larger households (D10) | lower caloric requirements per capita (P18) |
| lower caloric requirements per capita (P18) | decline in caloric intake observed over time (D15) |
| changes in demographic variables (J11) | offset declines in caloric intake due to decreased activity levels (D15) |
| caloric requirements (Q41) | caloric intake (D10) |
| share of staples within the food budget (D12) | caloric deficiency and hunger (D11) |
| caloric requirements (Q41) | short-term calorie-based poverty trap (I32) |