Analysis of inequality in the consumption of foodstuffs and beverages - the example of the Czech Republic

Abstract

The report focuses on the assessment of the rate of inequality in the consumption of foodstuffs and beverages by households in the Czech Republic. It analyzes the said inequality on the basis of data from the Family Account Statistics for the period of 2001–2009. The main methodical tools for the performed analysis are the quantification of the Gini coefficient of natural consumption and the consumption expenditures for foodstuffs and beverages of Czech households, the construction, quantification and verification of consumption functions. The obtained results evidence a greater balance in the consumption of foodstuffs and beverages than which is shown by the allocation of the overall expenditures or income of Czech households. At the same time, the said inequality in the consumption of foodstuffs and beverages is characterized by a slightly declining tendency in time. With regard to individual categories of foodstuffs and beverages, the greatest inequality can be defined in the case of dispensable commodities, which are consumed by quantitatively wealthier strata of the population, who are simultaneously willing to pay a higher price for them. Thus, for a number of commodities, we can note the greater quality of foodstuffs and beverages consumed by higher income groups. These commodities may primarily be characterized as having a greater price elasticity. On the other hand, there are foodstuffs in the case of which consumers react more flexibly to changes in income, but whose consumption is relatively stable. Therefore, inequality of consumption is not unequivocally associated with income elasticity, but rather with price elasticity.