The More the Poorer? Resource Sharing and Scale Economies in Large Families

Rossella Calvi, Jacob Penglase, Denni Tommasi and Alexander Wolf

No 15924, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

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 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 D11 D12 D13 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-cwa
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The more the poorer? Resource sharing and scale economies in large families (2023)
Working Paper: The More the Poorer? Resource Sharing and Scale Economies in Large Families (2020)
Working Paper: The More the Poorer? Resource Sharing and Scale Economies in Large Families (2020)
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