Household Income Groups Research Articles

Impacts of world prices transmission to domestic rice markets in rural Iran

This paper attempts to assess the degree to which Iranian rural households have responded to the change in price of imported rice due to exchange-rate unification, and to examine the extent to which the policy has affected the economic welfare of various household income groups, particularly the poor. Utilizing samples of 2472 households selected from national expenditure survey data of 2002 and 2003, Armington and pass-through elasticities were calculated as two measures of substitutability, and are discussed separately for each household group in these areas. The findings of this study indicate that domestic rice prices are associated differently with imported rice prices among the households. However, a price increase in imported rice that is mainly consumed by the poor worsens their position much more severely than for the rich people who mainly prefer domestic rice. The findings contribute to the understanding of how price changes resulting from trade liberalization may affect various groups of households and the ways they respond to such changes in prices.

Türkiye’de Seçilmiş Bazı İllerde Keçi Sütü ve Ürünleri Tüketimine Etkili Faktörler

Summary The aim of this research is to determine the consumption of goat milk and products and factors aff ected preferences according to demographic characteristics and diff erent income groups of households living in urban areas in Turkey. The material of this research is survey data from 780 households living in Istanbul, Ankara and Canakkale urban areas selected by basic randomly sampling method based on average proportion. According to research results, of the total households, 5% was the consumer of goat milk, 27% was the consumer of goat cheese. Goat milk consumption per capita was 350 ml/year, goat cheese consumption is 6 kg/year among the goat milk and cheese consumers. The Logistic Regression Analysis was used to analyze the data. According to analysis results, milk consumption, sheep milk and cheese consumption, age, education, income and provinces of the consumers and the importance to the mark were the factors had an eff ect on goat and cheese consumption. Those variables have an eff ect to increase goat and goat products. The advertisement and promotion activities mainly on the target group which have those characteristics would be increase consumption of goat milk and its products.

Forecasting Model for Air Taxi, Commercial Airline, and Automobile Demand in the United States

A nationwide model predicts the annual county-to-county person round-trips for air taxi, commercial airline, and automobile at 1-year intervals through 2030. The transportation systems analysis model (TSAM) uses the four-step transportation systems modeling process to calculate trip generation, trip distribution, and mode choice for each county origin-destination pair. Network assignment is formulated for commercial airline and air taxi demand. TSAM classifies trip rates by trip purpose, household income group, and type of metropolitan statistical area from which the round-trip started. A graphical user interface with geographic information systems capability is included in the model. Potential applications of the model are nationwide impact studies of transportation policies and technologies, such as those envisioned with the introduction of extensive air taxi service using very light jets, the next-generation air transportation system, and the introduction of new aerospace technologies.

Personal Consumption by Husbands and Wives

In wrongful death damages, personal consumption dollars represent the portion of total household expenditures that are exclusive to the decedent. Most of the personal consumption estimates in the forensic economic literature are computed from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published tables of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX) data. Those tables delineate, by household size and income, the average total dollars spent on approximately 20 summary expenditure groupings.1 Ireland and Depperschmidt (1999) presented a compilation of personal consumption articles that rely on such CEX summary table data with recent like-articles being written by Ajwa, Martin and Vavoulis (2000) and Ruble, Patton, and Nelson (2004). Trout and Foster (1993) and Scoggins (2001) both used the CEX Interview microdata to compute personal consumption estimates specific to husbands and wives. Unfortunately, those two studies ignored the Diary part of the CEX which includes significant household expenditures relevant to personal consumption and they continued to use the BLS’s summary group tabulations of each household’s expenditures. This paper uses CEX microdata to provide new personal consumption estimates for husbands and wives by their work status and by the number of children living in the home. Instead of relying on summary expenditures, all 700 micro-expenditure items within the CEX Interview and Diary surveys are incorporated into the analysis. Like Trout and Foster and Scoggins, the expenditure data is specific to husbands and wives, but this study goes further by using all of the CEX Interview and Diary microdata instead of just summary Interview data. Husband and wife specific data, by work status and number of children living at home, are important delineations in reliably computing personal consumption applicable to the loss of wage earnings of a married person. Assume the case of a wrongful death of a working married male living only with his wife. If a traditional two-person household personal consumption table were used to offset the husband’s earnings loss, such an analysis would mix the expenditure data of working and retired husbands and wives along with mixing in the data of households consisting of two single persons or one single person living with a child, etc. Another problem with studies based on summary tables is that total expenditures are usually shown to exceed income at the lower income levels. That result is not necessarily a fault of the CEX, but its presenta-

Anthropometric normality in adults: the geographical and socio-economic paradox of the nutritional transition in Brazil

OBJECTIVES: to consolidate secondary data and provide some as yet unpublished information on changes in the nutritional status of Brazilian children, and, principally, adults, from an anthropometrical point of view as evaluated in the course of the most recent surveys, laying emphasis on geographical and socio-economic features. METHODS: tables and graphs were used to consolidate data published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and from other sources, along with estimates for results not included in these original documents. Preliminary data from two as yet unpublished studies were also included. RESULTS: it was shown that, alongside the decline in malnutrition in children there are signs of an epidemic increase in obesity and overweight in adults. This is characteristic of the change in epidemiological profile associated with the nutritional transition. There is an apparent paradox that the highest frequencies for normal anthropometric measurements in adults were found in the poorer North and Northeast regions of Brazil. These results were even found in localities with very low indices for human development in the Northeast region. The best anthropometric situation for adult populations in Brazil was found in families with a low income (less than ¼ of one minimum wage per household per capita, with a prevalence rate twice as high among adult males in comparison with the higher household income group). CONCLUSIONS: the results for nutritional anthropo-metry among adults, showing more normal measurements among the low-income population, reflect a peculiar phase in epidemiological terms in the process of the nutritional transition in the country, which constitutes a paradox arising in these specific circumstances, which is probably temporary.

Incidence of cytomegalovirus infection among the general population and pregnant women in the United States

BackgroundCytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common opportunistic infection among HIV-infected individuals, a major source of serious complications among organ-transplant recipients, and a leading cause of hearing loss, vision loss, and mental retardation among congenitally infected children. Women infected for the first time during pregnancy are especially likely to transmit CMV to their fetuses. More children suffer serious disabilities caused by congenital CMV than by several better-known childhood maladies such as Down syndrome or fetal alcohol syndromeMethodsUsing CMV seroprevalence data from the nationally representative Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we estimated CMV incidence among the general United States population and among pregnant women. We employed catalytic models that used age-specific CMV seroprevalences as cumulative markers of past infections in order to derive estimates of three basic parameters: the force of infection, the basic reproductive rate, and the average age of infection. Our main focus was the force of infection, an instantaneous per capita rate of acquisition of infection that approximates the incidence of infection in the seronegative population.ResultsAmong the United States population ages 12–49 the force of infection was 1.6 infections per 100 susceptible persons per year (95% confidence interval: 1.2, 2.4). The associated basic reproductive rate of 1.7 indicates that, on average, an infected person transmits CMV to nearly two susceptible people. The average age of CMV infection was 28.6 years. Force of infection was significantly higher among non-Hispanic Blacks (5.7) and Mexican Americans (5.1) than among non-Hispanic Whites (1.4). Force of infection was significantly higher in the low household income group (3.5) than in the middle (2.1) and upper (1.5) household income groups. Based on these CMV incidence estimates, approximately 27,000 new CMV infections occur among seronegative pregnant women in the United States each year.ConclusionThese thousands of CMV infections in pregnant women, along with the sharp racial/ethnic disparities in CMV incidence, are compelling reasons for accelerating research on vaccines and other interventions for preventing congenital CMV disease. Nevertheless, the relatively low force of infection provides encouraging evidence that modestly effective vaccines and rates of vaccination could significantly reduce CMV transmission.

Depression and Anxiety: Effect on the Migraine–Obesity Relationship

To discern the effects of depression and anxiety on the migraine-obesity relationship. Migraine and obesity are highly prevalent conditions and are both independently linked to psychiatric conditions, mainly depression and anxiety. Data are from an ongoing cross-sectional multicenter study on comorbid conditions in clinic patients seeking treatment for headache. The diagnosis of migraine was determined by the examining physician based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD)-II criteria. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire with information on demographics, headache features, and physician-diagnosed comorbid medical and psychiatric disorders. The questionnaire included scales for measuring current depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (BAI), and headache-related disability (HIT-6). A total of 721 migraineurs (88% women) from 8 different headache treatment centers were included in this study (mean age = 42 years, SD = 12). Aura was reported in 45% and chronic headache (>or=15 headache days/month) in 35% of the participants. Prevalence of obesity in our population was 30% and only 38% had normal weight. Obesity was more common in men (P= .004), African Americans (P= .026), and in lower education (P= .05) and household income (P=.05) groups. Current depression (PHQ-9 score >or=10) was noted in 42% and current anxiety (BAI score >or=8) in 70% of the obese migraineurs. In ordinal logistic regression, obesity was associated with current depression (odds ratio [OR]= 1.86, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25 to 2.78) and anxiety (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.12 to 2.22). A significant effect of depression on the body mass index (BMI) and headache frequency relationship was noted. Obese migraineurs with depression were more likely to have higher headache frequency (OR = 4.16, 95% CI: 1.92 to 8.99) and headache-related disability (OR = 7.10, 95% CI: 2.69 to 18.77) compared to normal weight migraineurs without depression. Similarly, obese migraineurs with anxiety were more likely to have higher headache frequency (OR = 1.96, 95% CI: 1.07 to 3.61) and headache-related disability (OR = 3.59, 95% CI: 1.64 to 7.86) compared to normal weight migraineurs without depression. Compared to migraineurs with either current depression or anxiety, those with both these conditions were more likely to have higher headache frequency (OR = 3.18, 95% CI: 1.86 to 5.43) and headache disability (OR = 6.13, 95% CI: 2.58 to 14.59). Depression and anxiety were common in obese migraineurs. The relationship of obesity with migraine frequency and migraine-related disability is modified by depression and by anxiety, with the strongest effect observed in migraineurs with both depression and anxiety.

Family relations and mental health of unemployed middle-aged Chinese men

Background: The over-representation of middle-age men among completed suicides had raised concerns over the mental health issues of unemployed Chinese men.Aims: The relation between family relations and mental health was explored.Method: 190 unemployed men attending the job centres were interviewed with a structured questionnaire.Results: Almost three-quarters (73.2%) of the participants had common mental disturbances as defined by GHQ caseness. Low household income group (OR = 3.47, 95% CI 1.40 – 8.61) and high emotion families (OR = 10.34, 95% CI 3.55 – 30.09) were found to have increased risks.Conclusions: There were some indications that worsening family relations and communication might have triggered off a culturally constrained appraisal of man's own role and subsequent mental health disturbances. Implications were discussed with reference to the need of an early coordinated intervention approach that was both gender and culturally sensitive rather than mere occupational retraining.

Food Purchase Behaviour of Different Consumer Groups in Belgium

Research based on household panel data collected from Gesellschaft für Konsum und Absatzforschung (GfK) in Belgium in 2001 focuses on the three objectives. First, to find out whether the amount of food purchased is different throughout income related social groups. Second, to analyse the relationship between budget share in food expenditure and income. Third, to investigate the impact of socioeconomic variables on food purchase and expenditure between income groups. The basic survey data are adapted specifically for the current research. Further, a three-step methodology is presented. The first step relates to the descriptive analysis of the quantity of food purchased and expenditure. In the second step, regression analyses between total food purchase and food expenditure, and the socioeconomic variables are calculated. As a third, a significant relation between income group and the other socioeconomic variables is tested. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in purchase of various food products (except fish) between the three income groups of households in Belgium. As regard to expenditure on food, the poorer people spend significantly less money on food in general, and specifically less on fish, dairy products and vegetables.

Effects of Changes in Household Size, Consumer Taste & Preferences on Demand Pattern in India

Current research in applied demand analysis has been addressing the twin issues of degree of non-linearity or curvature of the Engel curves and the ability to capture price effects appropriately by the demand system. Further, in addition to income and prices, the role of demographic variables like household size, composition and dynamic aspects like consumer taste & preferences are also being ’ emphasized in recent literature. Continuous efforts are being made to modify the existing models and propose new ones to incorporate the above developments. The purpose of this study is to re-examine the usefulness of the popular linear expenditure system vis-a-vis the two other flexible models viz. Nasse expenditure system, a generalization of the linear expenditure system itself, and the almost ideal demand system in the above context for India.The empirical results indicate wide variation in marginal budget shares and demand elasticities across income groups, rural-urban sectors and alternative models. The household size and consumer taste & preferences are found to be statistically significant. The results confirm the earlier findings that there are significant changes in consumer tastes away from cereals and pulses in favor of other food and nonfood commodities. The results also show that flexible models, which are theoretically superior, gave unacceptable positive price responses for some commodities and violated second order conditions of utility maximization. It is found that some ad-hoc separability restrictions are needed, thereby limiting the flexibility of the model, to get negative own-price responses in these models. But, second order conditions are still violated. The tests of nested hypotheses also confirm the need for inclusion of household size, consumer taste, income group and rural-urban dummies along with their interaction variables in the demand system.

Urban and Rural Household Taxation in China. Measurement, Comparison and Policy Implications

ABSTRACT By measuring the tax burdens for both Chinese urban and the rural households in the 1990s, we find that the taxes on the urban households were mainly indirect taxes through consumption of goods and services while those on rural households were largely direct taxes such as state agricultural taxes, local fees and tuition. Although the incomes of rural households were much lower than those of their urban counterparts, rural households were taxed much more heavily than their urban counterparts. By calculating the total tax burdens for different income groups of both urban and rural households, we find that rural tax in general was much more regressive. The main reasons for rural tax becoming more acute in the 1990s were the increasing rural income disparity and the uneven tax incidence biased against poorer households. Policy implications are drawn for the ongoing rural tax reform, the rearrangement of inter-governmental relationships as well as improving local governance in China.

Generic Products

Recent times have seen the emergence of unbranded or “generic” products. These products, which are usually sold at a price which is lower than their branded equivalents, are most often found in the area of low-involvement grocery items. Previous research on generic products appears not only to be incomplete and inconclusive, but has been conducted in relatively mature markets. This paper examines in more detail the current consumer perceptions of generic products in the relatively young New Zealand market. Results of a consumer survey suggest that generics are generally accepted by a broad spectrum of society and are not necessarily perceived as being more appropriate for certain groups, although usage tends to be significantly higher amongst older age groups and lower household income groups. Generics are seen as being a sensible buy which have a lower price than their branded equivalents but not necessarily seen as being lower quality products or the type of products which people are embarrassed to buy or consume publicly. Not all products, however, lend themselves easily to the generic concept. This is especially so for those products which have less predictable or less consistent quality.

Is Adjustment with Equitable Economic Growth Possible? Evidence from a Developing Country

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the effects of structural adjustment policies in the 1980s on growth and income distribution in the Sudan within a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) framework. These policies were unbalanced between the productive sectors of the economy and biased toward modem irrigated agriculture, large capital-intensive and highly import-dependent industries. The SAM multiplier analysis indicates that these sectors have the weakest growth linkages in the economy and the smallest impact on household income. In contrast, traditional agriculture (including livestock and forestry) provide the strongest linkages and have the largest impact on every household income group. These results must be heavily qualified when taking into account the limitations of both the data base and the SAM multiplier model.

Joint production and consumption in traditional households: Fuelwood and crop residues in two districts in Nepal

Forest conversion by agricultural households is the leading cause of deforestation. Yet we know little about agricultural household use of forest and tree products. This article measures household production of and demand for fuelwood and fuel substitutes in two districts in Nepal. Women play a larger role in collection in the district dependant on production from common forestlands. Men and agricultural capital are more important inputs in the district dependant on production from private lands. The article also measures demand elasticities for fuelwood, combustible agricultural residues, and improved stoves (a technological substitute), each by household income group. All price and income demand elasticities are less than one. The substitution elasticities between residues and fuelwood are less than one. Residues are more important substitutes for low income households and improved stoves are more important substitutes for high income households.

RISK OF ENAMEL FLUOROSIS ASSOCIATED WITH FLUORIDE SUPPLEMENTATION, INFANT FORMULA, AND FLUORIDE DENTIFRICE USE

Eight hundred fifty 11- to 14-year-old residents of nonfluoridated communities in Massachusetts and Connecticut, who were born between 1972 and 1975, were investigated in a case-control study of the possible association between enamel fluorosis and exposure to fluoride supplements, infant formula, and/or fluoride dentifrice. The effect of median household income, an indicator of socioeconomic status, was also examined. Clinical examination, using the Fluorosis Risk Index, a fluorosis index developed for this project, allowed cases and controls to be identified based upon the specific time period of exposure to the various sources of ingested fluoride. Risk factor exposure was assessed via a mailed questionnaire with a response rate of 80%. Mild-to-moderate enamel fluorosis was strongly associated with fluoride supplementation during the first six years of life (odds ratio = 4.0) and with median household income (odds ratio = 6.6). Subjects in the middle median household income group who had used fluoride supplements through the first six years of life had a 28-fold increase in the risk of fluorosis compared with unexposed subjects in the lower median household income group. An odds ratio of 1.7 associated with infant formula use was suggestive of an increased risk of enamel fluorosis as was an odds ratio of 2.9 associated with fluoride dentifrice use.

Income Polarization Between the Central Cities and Suburbs of U.S. Metropolises, 1950–1980

Abstract. Through an examination between 1950 and 1980 of household income in central cities and suburbs of the 37 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas of the United States. was found that considerable polarization of household income groups had occurred. By 1980 the median share of the poorest within the total households of the central cities had risen to well over double the share of the group in the total households of the suburbs. The share of the wealthiest households in the total for the suburbs rose to double that of that group's share of the total central cities households. No generalizations could be made which would explain the degree nor the rate of polarization, though a number of socioeconomic variables were tested.