The economies of scale of living together and how they are shared: estimates based on a collective household model

Aline Bütikofer and Michael Gerfin ()
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Michael Gerfin: University of Bern

Review of Economics of the Household, 2017, vol. 15, issue 2, No 4, 433-453

Abstract: Abstract How large are the economies of scale of living together? And how do partners share their resources? The first question is usually answered by equivalence scales which assume equal sharing of resources within the household. Recent evidence based on collective household models rejects this equal sharing assumption. This paper uses data on financial satisfaction to simultaneously estimate the sharing rule and the economies of scale in a collective household model. The estimates indicate substantial scale economies of living together. Furthermore, wives receive on average almost 50 % of household resources, but the estimated shares vary between 30 and 60 %. Female resource shares increase with the ratio of female to male wages. Consumption inequality is underestimated by 16 % if unequal sharing is ignored.

Keywords: Collective household models; Sharing rule; Equivalence scale; Subjective data; D12; C21; D19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Working Paper: The Economies of Scale of Living Together and How They Are Shared: Estimates Based on a Collective Household Model (2009)
Working Paper: The economies of scale of living together and how they are shared - Estimates based on a collective household model (2009)
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DOI: 10.1007/s11150-014-9255-8

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