THE IMPACT OF EQUIVALENCE SCALES ON THE ANALYSIS OF INCOME AND FOOD SPENDING DISTRIBUTIONS

This article examines the effects of different income and food spending adult equivalence scales on estimated expenditure elasticities, on the demographic characteristics of the rich and Poor, and on the percentage of household income spent on food by various income quintiles. Empirical results are found to be heavily influenced by the choice of equivalence scales. For example, elasticities varied by over 300%, and the demographic characteristics of the poor varied greatly.