ECONOMIES OF SCALE IN THE HOUSEHOLD: PUZZLES AND PATTERNS FROM THE AMERICAN PAST

Estimates of household economies of scale are critical for measuring income and living standards, yet we know little about how these scale economies change over time. I use American household expenditure surveys to produce the first comparable historical estimates of household scale economies. I fin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEconomic inquiry Vol. 49; no. 4; pp. 1008 - 1028
Main Author LOGAN, TREVON D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2011
Western Economic Association International
Blackwell Publishers Ltd
Western Economic Association
SeriesEconomic Inquiry
Subjects
Analysis
Capital expenditures
Consumer spending
Cost and standard of living
Economies of scale
Estimation
Expenditures
Family income
Historical analysis
Household consumption
Household economics
Household expenditure
Household income
Households
Personal income
Standard of living
Studies
U.S.A
United States
United States > US
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Summary:Estimates of household economies of scale are critical for measuring income and living standards, yet we know little about how these scale economies change over time. I use American household expenditure surveys to produce the first comparable historical estimates of household scale economies. I find that scale economies changed significantly from 1888 to 1935 for all expenditure categories considered (food, clothing, entertainment, and housing), but not all trends in scale economies are consistent with theoretical predictions. As such, our notions about household economies of scale must be reassessed in light of this historical evidence. (JEL D1, E3, I3, J1, N3)
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-3X04LJ93-Q
ArticleID:ECIN240
istex:A0D25DA8750B18D03D11045B116F85BFDD85A895
I thank Louis Cain, Dora L. Costa, Matthew S. Lewis, Muna S. Meky, Joel Moykr, Joseph M. Newhard, Paul Rhode, Gianni Tonolio, two referees and seminar participants at Ohio State, Indiana, McGill, Northwestern, Duke, the NBER Cohort Studies Conference and Summer Institute, and the AEA Pipeline Conference for helpful discussions. Yasin Akcelik and Yunhui Tan provided excellent research assistance. The usual disclaimer applies.
ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0095-2583
1465-7295
DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00240.x