Empirically Measuring Household Productivity: An Application

Abstract

This research empirically examined the productive use of a specific family re source—nutrients available for meal production—within households headed by married couples and single persons. This was accomplished by estimating sepa rate production functions for the protein and fat contained in family meals. Data from the 1977 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey were used in the analysis. As hypothesized, the marginal products of the nutrient inputs were positive numbers whose values were less than one. The magnitude of the coefficient on protein was larger than the coefficient for fat. This suggests that households uti lize their protein resources more productively than their fat resources. From a nutritional point of view, this is encouraging. This research also supports the usefulness of household production theory in empirically analyzing the produc tive use of household resources.