Abstract
The effects of some household structural features on the relationships between total expenditure and consumption of specific goods (Engel curves) are analysed. The data are from Italian household budget surveys and relate to the years 1981 and 1987. The method is the analysis of covariance, which allows to test the hypothesis of uniqueness of total expenditure elasticities among the different kinds of household taken into account. The results show :a) geographical characters are less important than demographic and social ones in explaining the differences of consumption behaviour ;b) during the period studied, a process of assimilation of consumption behaviour among different kinds of households took place; c) total expenditure (as a proxy of income) confirms itself as the principal determinant (directly or indirectly) of the consumption behaviour, although some elements of differentiation among households groups come out.
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