Wives’ Value of Time and Food Consumed Away from Home in Taiwan*

Abstract

In the present paper, we examine the relationship between wives’ value of time and expenditures on food away from home (FAFH) in Taiwan between 1983 and 2000. An endogenous switching regression model is used to model the household's consumption decision on FAFH. The empirical results show that wives’ value of time, household income, presence of young children and grandparents, and wives’ educational attainment are important factors for both participation in consuming and amount spent on FAFH. The income elasticities of FAFH have increased from 0.09 to 0.17 over the sample period. Moreover, other things being equal, the level of spending on FAFH has also increased over time. The results suggest that there has been a structural change in the consumption pattern of FAFH by families in Taiwan.