Pre‐Engel Studies and the Work of Engel: The Origins of Consumption Research

Abstract

The first systematic collection of family receipts and expenditures was the work of Davies, published in 1795; Eden's three‐volume work on the state of the poor appeared in 1797. More than 50 years later, Belgium was the first country to undertake collection of family accounts. These accounts provided a sound basis for development of techniques for collecting household expenditures data. At about the same time, the family monographs of Le Play were published in France.Ernst Engel saw the need for methods of statistical measurement applicable to social phenomena. Using the Belgian data and Le Play's data, Engel computed averages and derived generalizations concerning food expenditures in relation to family well‐being. Engel's “laws” of consumption have often been misstated by writers in languages other than German.The work of Engel and Le Play and the Belgian study provided a statistical basis for the analysis of family expenditures; by the end of the nineteenth century four different ways of collecting such data were recognized. The early investigators faced basic problems in selecting families, defining income, and classifying expenditures. Engel's contributions to methods of analysis were fundamental.