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Assessing differences in household needs

A comparison of approaches for the estimation of equivalence scales using German expenditure data

Bibliographic Data

ID21542011
AuthorsChristian Dudel (0000-0002-2985-6684, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research), Jan Marvin Garbuszus (Ruhr University Bochum, corresponding author), Julian Schmied (0000-0001-5995-2901, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)
Year2021
Volume60
Issue4
Pages1629-1659
Publication date2021-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEmpirical Economics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0377-7332 • E-ISSN: 1435-8921
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s00181-020-01822-6
OpenAlexW2790944179
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited59

Equivalence scales are routinely applied to adjust the income of households of different sizes and compositions. Because of their practical importance for the measurement of inequality and poverty, a large number of methods for the estimation of equivalence scales have been proposed. Until now, however, no comprehensive comparison of current methods has been conducted. In this paper, we employ German household expenditure data to estimate equivalence scales using several parametric, semiparametric, and nonparametric approaches. Using a single dataset, we find that some approaches yield more plausible results than others while implausible scales are mostly based on linear Engel curves. The results we consider plausible are close to the modified OECD scale, and to the square root scale for larger households

Econometrics · Economics · Engel curve · Estimation · Geography · German · Nonparametric statistics · Parametric statistics · Price index · Statistics · Economics of Agriculture and Food Markets · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Mathematics

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Unique citing works13
Citations per year2,17
Citation span2020 - 2026 (7)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 13
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