Total Consumption Expenditure Research Articles

Managing Mental Accounts: Payment Cards and Consumption Expenditures

Abstract Does mental accounting matter for total consumption expenditures? We exploit a unique setting in which individuals exogenously receive a new payment card, without requesting one. Using random variation in the time of receipt, we show that individuals temporarily increase total consumption expenditure by making purchases with the new card without reducing spending on the others. We do not observe a corresponding increase in indebtedness. Total consumption expenditure rises even for the least liquidity-constrained individuals. The evidence is consistent with consumers treating methods of payment as nonfungible budget categories, as suggested by models of mental accounting and narrow bracketing.

Impoverishing effects of catastrophic health out-of-pocket payments in Nigeria

Out-of-Pocket (OOP) expenditure on healthcare is a major share of total healthcare expenditure in many developing countries, including Nigeria. Households in different income groups in Nigeria spent a larger share of income mainly on consumption and basic needs, hence, OOP expenditure for health constituted a burden with attendant effects on household well-being. Catastrophic headcount and Overshoot mean positive gap and concentration indexes were used to capture the incidence and severity of catastrophic health expenditure. The poverty headcount, poverty gap, normalized poverty gap, and its mean estimate were used to empirically identify the effect of catastrophic health expenditure using the national poverty line of ₦137,430 per year. Data on 22,110 households with non-zero expenditure were obtained from the 2018/2019 Nigeria Living Standard Survey. The incidence and severity of catastrophic health expenditure were higher for poorest and poor income quintiles using total consumption expenditure and total non-food expenditure at various catastrophic thresholds. The results indicated that about one million Nigerians were pushed into poverty due to OOP expenditure. Widening the coverage of the available social health insurance and implementation of alternative means of healthcare financing would minimize the financial burden on many poorest and poor households.

Are households with under-five children in Nigeria socioeconomically disadvantaged?

Although the sociodemographic and economic contributors to under-five mortality are well established, very little research has been done to assess the levels of disadvantage under-five children in Nigeria face along these dimensions. Nigeria has the second-highest under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in the world (111 deaths per 1000 live births) and contributed to the highest number of annual under-five deaths globally in 2020 (844,321 deaths). The country has also implemented several decades of policy interventions to reduce under-five mortality by improving sociodemographic and economic conditions at the household level. In this paper, we assess the sociodemographic and economic disadvantages that households with children under-five face compared to other households and discuss the implications for health policy. Using the Nigeria Living Standard Survey 2018-19, we conducted a bivariate analysis to compare the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of households with and without under-five children. We performed independent samples t-test and proportions test to assess whether these sociodemographic and economic factors were significantly different for both groups. We found that households with under-five children typically had larger sizes (6.6 vs. 3.6), lower mean adult age (36.5 vs. 45.3), and male household heads (91.3% vs. 71.5%) than households without under-five children. Furthermore, households with under-five children were less likely to have access to improved drinking water (77.2% vs. 86.0%) and sanitation sources (54.0% vs. 61.9%) than those without under-five children. Despite having more adult working members, 71.2% of households with under-five children lived below the poverty line compared to 37.7% of other households. Although their total consumption expenditure was lower than households without under-five children, they spent a higher proportion of their expenditure on health care and were at a higher risk of experiencing catastrophic health expenditure. Our study has shown that households with children under five are disproportionately disadvantaged than other households in Nigeria. The households with under-five children are larger, younger, and poorer than those without children. We also show a wide variation in the proportion of households with children under five by state. Any efforts to reduce under-five mortality and morbidity in Nigeria should recognize these sociodemographic and economic differences.

The Health Insurance Situation in Iran: A Brief Overview

The financing process of the health system includes the collection, accumulation, and management of financial resources to purchase health services. Sustainable financing of the health system is a core function, which can enable progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). There are multiple funding sources to finance health care services in Iran, including out-of-pocket payment, government funds, general taxation, health insurance, and individual donations. Inefficiency in health insurance systems has led to an increase in out-of-pocket payments, and ultimately catastrophic expenditures. According to the results of the household income-expenditure survey in 2017, about 17% of the population faced catastrophic expenditures by spending more than 10% of their total consumption expenditure on health, and 75% of exposure to catastrophic expenditures (equivalent to 13% of population) was only due to paying out of pocket to receive medical services. (1) According to the health insurance coverage in 2010, about 84% of the total population in Iran was covered by various insurance plans and supplementary health insurance included 20% of the total population. (2) After the recent reforms entitled as the "Health Transformation Plan" launched in 2014, more than 90% of the population was covered by health insurance. However, the services were not fully covered by insurance benefits and only included inpatient health services. In addition, the insurance share was free for patients, which increased moral hazard from patients and induced demand from providers. Finally, this reform plan was stopped due to the instability of resources. Among the disadvantages of this type of insurance, the following can be mentioned: 1. All people could register in this insurance without any limitation. 2. The insurance premium was very small and negligible. So, it was not considered as an insurance because there was not the accumulation of risk, which is one of the main characteristics of any insurance industry. 3. Considering that many people were covered in this type of insurance, the depth and level of service coverage were reduced due to limited resources. In this insurance type, financing was from the government and there was no assessment for individuals; and it was a kind of support fund or support package. So, it was stopped at some point after the health transformation plan. Although Article 10 of the General Insurance Law in Iran refers to determining the scope and medical services and drugs, (3) there are no criteria to evaluate the covered packages. Despite the UHC's goal of increasing the number and variety of services for patients, many services for specific diseases, palliative care, etc. are not covered by the basic insurance. Also, some services such as dental and optometric services are considered a luxury service and are not covered by basic insurance. The lack of resources to provide proper services to the insured people and the impossibility of receiving the services from the private sector using health insurance benefits are other challenges of this type of insurance. Finally, Iran has not been able to achieve UHC due to the lack of proper management capacity in the insurance sector. To realize universal health coverage and improve outcomes, policymakers must consider several demand and supply factors. In this regard, expansion of infrastructure, human resources, and health services can be effective from the supply perspective. Meanwhile, increasing health insurance coverage, expanding health benefits package, and reducing the contribution of people in paying expenses using payment methods with a certain ceiling such as per capita and quality-based payment can be effective from the demand perspective. Also, the existence of comprehensive and transparent information systems, especially the system for identifying vulnerable and low-income groups, can greatly contribute to the successful implementation of UHC. Finally, designing suitable financial and non-financial incentives can also lead to increasing the satisfaction of professionals and health sector employees.

Are natural resources and oil prices a possible solution to renewable energy electricity? Evidence from global time series data

Numerous studies have inspected the link between renewable energy, economic development, and electricity production; however, studies of the nexus of consumption expenditures and renewable electricity are lacking in the existing literature. Hence, this research explored the nexus of electricity from renewable energy, total consumption expenditures, and renewable electricity output globally from 1985 to 2021. Economic growth, mineral, and oil prices, forest rents, and access to clean fuel technology (ACFCT) are added as contributing variables via employing Bootstrap quantile regression and Least squares methods as primary procedures. For robustness protocols, FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR as parametric methods and non-parametric Bootstrap with different mechanisms of NRR are included. The results unveil that total consumption expenditures negatively and significantly impact the median and upper quantiles. At the same time, electricity from renewable energy shows a weak impact in the upper quantile only. Besides, the results of the latter co-variates are also found to be significant in the least squares method. Moreover, Economic growth is negative but insignificant in the lower quantiles and positive and significant in the median and upper quantiles. Despite the structural breaks taken on economic growth in the least squares method, it completely and significantly impacts renewable electricity output. The influence of coal, mineral, oil prices, and natural gas is negative. Forest rents have an insignificant impact in the lower and median quantiles while positive and significant in the upper quantiles. Conversely, ACFCT has a negative and significant impact on the lower quantile, while a positive and significant impact on renewable electricity output in the upper quantiles. Robustness check analysis via both methods provides similar results. Based on the outcomes, this study proposes numerous policy implications concerning renewable electricity output by examining the effective role of consumption expenditures, electricity from renewable production, ACFCT, and forest rents.

The effect of urban renewal on residential energy consumption expenditure--the example of shantytown renovation

Building sustainable cities should guarantee affordable energy. The high cost of energy consumption remains a problem in the process of renewing cities. By using the difference-in-differences method, this paper examines the effect of shantytown renovation, an urban renewal initiative, on residential energy consumption expenditure. The results show that: (1) shantytown renovation significantly reduced residential energy consumption expenditure, and the result still held after a series of robust tests. (2) Shantytown renovation reduced the share of residential energy consumption expenditure in total consumption and subsistence consumption expenditure. (3) Household consumption expenditure per capita was a potential channel through which shantytown renovation affected residential energy consumption expenditure as well as its share. (4) Through analyzing the differences in urban-rural divide, household registration, and consumption levels among households, shantytown renovation significantly reduced residential energy consumption expenditure and its share among urban households, non-mobile households, and households with medium consumption levels. (5) Shantytown renovation had a significantly negative effect on the proportion of residential energy consumption expenditure in subsistence consumption expenditure among households with low consumption levels. The findings of this study offer guidance for raising new cities while more effectively protecting the energy needs of the public, to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals regarding cities and energy.

The Impact of Household Asset Allocation on the Heterogeneity of Residents' Consumption Based on CFPS Micro Data

In response to the impact of household asset allocation on residents' consumption heterogeneity, this article first uses the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to conduct preliminary analysis and statistics, and selects some control variables. Secondly, the instrumental variable method is used to study the total consumer expenditure of residents and determine the feasibility of controlling variables. Finally, based on this, the instrumental variable method is used to study the secondary and tertiary indicators of asset allocation and the secondary indicators of consumer expenditure, and the model is tested to determine the impact of household asset allocation types on residents' heterogeneous consumption. The research draws the following conclusions: (1) The average marginal utility of household physical asset holdings on consumption is slightly greater than the marginal utility of financial assets. (2) Household cash and deposit holdings have a more obvious marginal utility on consumption than their holdings of financial products. (3) The positive impact of the total purchase price of a family car on medical, entertainment, and home expenses is significantly greater than its impact on clothing, food, housing, and transportation expenses.

Triggering economic growth to ensure financial stability: case study of Northern Cyprus

This study questions the importance of public debt in stable growth between 1980 and 2018, specifically, the Ricardian equivalence hypothesis and Keynesian view are questioned. This study used data obtained from the Northern Cyprus State Planning Office. A restricted vector autoregressive model is used to test the causal relationships between this model and public debt, government expenditure, total capital, consumption, investment, employment, net exports, exchange rate, and gross domestic product growth rate. To ensure financial stability, the variables that trigger economic growth through increased interactions were evaluated. Accordingly, unlike other studies, the Wald test results reveal that public debt does not have a direct effect on the gross national product but indirectly affects total capital, consumption, investment, and public expenditure, all of which influence real gross domestic product (RGDP). It has been observed that employment affects RGDP, consumption, government spending, and investment. There is also bidirectional causality between consumption, government spending, and RGDP. The estimates of the Ricardian equivalent hypothesis are important. However, today's changing economic policies, declining real incomes, and consumer behavior in the face of ever-increasing inflation require that the theory be redesigned. Therefore, contrary to theoretical predictions, consumers are concerned about maintaining their standard of living rather than directing tax deductions to savings. Contrary to the claims of Keynesian researchers, no causal relationship is observed between public debt and growth in this study. However, public debt directly affects total capital, consumption, government spending, and investment, which are important for sustainable economic policy.

Private Expenditure on Education in India: National Level Analysis Exploring NSSO Survey (CES and SCE) Estimates

Education being a public good calls for higher public investment. In India, there is a growing trend towards private expenditure on education. The present article examines the trends of private expenditure on education based on the NSSO-Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) and Social Consumption on Education (SC-E) survey estimates for the period 1986–1987 to 2017–2018. The analysis reveals the rising share of private expenditure on education in GDP and total household consumption expenditure (HCE) indicating its faster growth over GDP and/or HCE. There is a positive association between income level and per capita private expenditure on education. In the case of bottom economic strata, per capita private expenditure on education and its share in their total HCE is rising faster. The ratio of per capita private expenditure on education of the top 10% to the bottom 10% is high but decreasing over time, indicating lower economic strata are spending a higher proportion of their income on education vis-à-vis upper economic strata.

Assessing progress towards universal health coverage in Cambodia: Evidence using survey data from 2009 to 2019

Over the past decades, many low- and middle-income countries have implemented health financing and system reforms to progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). In the case of Cambodia, out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) remains the main source of current health expenditure after several decades of reform, exposing households to financial risks when accessing healthcare and violating UHC's key tenet of financial protection. We use pre-pandemic data from the nationally representative Cambodia Socio-Economic Surveys of 2009 to 2019 to assess progress in financial protection to evaluate the reforms and obtain internationally comparable estimates. We find that following strong improvements in financial protection between 2009 and 2017, there was a reversal in the trend thereafter. The OOPE budget share rose, and the incidence of catastrophic spending and impoverishment increased in nearly all geographical and socioeconomic strata. For example, 17.7% of households experienced catastrophic health expenditure in 2019 at the threshold of 10% of total household consumption expenditure, and 3.9% of households were pushed into poverty by OOPE. The distribution of all financial protection indicators varied strongly across socioeconomic and geographical strata in all years. Fundamentally, the demonstrated trend reversal may jeopardize Cambodia's ability to progress towards UHC. To improve financial protection in the short term, there is a need to address the burden created by OOPE through targeted interventions to household groups that are most affected. In the medium term, our findings emphasize the importance of expanding health pre-payment schemes to currently uncovered vulnerable groups, specifically the near-poor. The government also needs to consider extending the scope of services covered and the range of providers to include the private sector under these schemes to reduce reliance on OOPE.

ANALISIS PENDAPATAN DAN TINGKAT KESEJAHTERAAN RUMAH TANGGA PETANI KUBIS DI KECAMATAN BALIK BUKIT KABUPATEN LAMPUNG BARAT

This research aims to analyze farm income, farmer household income level, farmer household expenditure, and farmer household welfare level. The research location is determined purposively at Balik Bukit District, West Lampung Regency. Furthermore the research uses a survey method and is carried out from January to February 2020. The data analysis used in this research is qualitative and quantitative descriptive analysis. Quantitative analysis is used to determine the amount of farmer income, farmer household income and household expenditure level of cabbage farmers, while qualitative descriptive analysis is used to analyze the welfare level of cabbage farmers' households. The results showed that cabbage farming run by cabbage farmers was very profitable because the R/C value of the total cost was more than one. The largest source of income (74.65%) was came from cabbage farming, followed by non-cabbage farming (19.74%), non-farm income (3.37%) and off-farm income (2.24%). Moreover household expenditures of cabbage farmers consisted of food expenditures and non-food expenditures. Household food expenditure of cabbage farmers was 44.96% per year, while non-food expenditure was 55.04% per year. Exchange rate Farmers' household income against production costs (3.57), food consumption (6.30), non-food consumption (5.15), total consumption (2.83), and total expenditure (1.58) indicate that cabbage farming households in Balik Bukit District were included in the prosperous category. Keywords: cabbage, expenses, household income, income, welfare

Improving economic security for older persons by public pension schemes: evidence from National Transfer Accounts for India.

This paper develops a framework for analysis of distribution related policy issues (i.e. inequality, poverty and inequity) for ensuring economic security for India's older persons by the public old-age pension systems with special reference to Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS). The analysis is focused on (a) measurement of age-specific and intra-generational inequity by Lifecycle Deficit in the framework of National Transfer Accounts (NTA), (b) relationship between this inequity and poverty and inequalities in distribution of income and consumption and (c) role of current public funded IGNOAPS to improving economic security or reducing inequity for the elderly generation. The entire analysis is based on the benchmark year 2004-05 and a comparative analysis between 2004-05 and 2011-12. Main results show (a) remarkable age and intra-generational patterns for the older persons in labour income, consumption, income and consumption inequalities, consumption poverty and inequality-adjusted inequity and (b) efficacy of poverty-linked universal IGNOAPS to improve economic security or reducing the inequity for the older persons at a national cost of less than 0.20% of total revenueor consumption expenditure of Government of India. These results offer empirical evidence for design and implementation of redistributive policies for the older persons by integrating the objectives of reduction in economic inequalities, poverty and inequity. Such policies have wider implications for attainment of select UN-SDG goals, especially goals related to age-specific reduction in poverty and inequalities. The approach, results and implications of this paper are of general relevance for other developing countries in Asia and Africa if their economic policies aim at improving economic security of the older person in the framework of NTA methodology.

Out-of-pocket expenditure on childhood infections and its financial burden on Indian households: Evidence from nationally representative household survey (2017-18).

The key objective of this research was to estimate out of pocket expenditure (OOPE) incurred by the Indian households for the treatment of childhood infections. We estimated OOPE estimates on outpatient care and hospitalization by disease conditions and type of health facilities. In addition, we also estimated OOPE as a share of households' total consumption expenditure (TCE) by MPCE quintile groups to assess the quantum of the financial burden on the households. We analyzed the Social Consumption: Health (SCH) data from National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) 75th round (2017-18). Outcome indicators were prevalence of selected infectious diseases in children aged less than 5 years, per episode of OOPE on outpatient care in the preceding 15 days, hospitalization in the preceding year and OOPE as a share of households' total consumption expenditure. Our analysis suggests that the most common childhood infection was 'fever with rash' followed by 'acute upper respiratory infection' and 'acute meningitis'. However, the highest OOPE for outpatient care and hospitalization was reported for 'viral hepatitis' and 'tuberculosis' episodes. Among the households reporting childhood infections, OOPE was 4.8% and 6.7% of households' total consumption expenditure (TCE) for outpatient care and hospitalization, respectively. Furthermore, OOPE as a share of TCE was disproportionately higher for the poorest MPCE quintiles (outpatient, 7.9%; hospitalization, 8.2%) in comparison to the richest MPCE quintiles (outpatient, 4.8%; hospitalization, 6.7%). This treatment and care-related OOPE has equity implications for Indian households as the poorest households bear a disproportionately higher burden of OOPE as a share of TCE. Ensuring financial risk protection and universal access to care for childhood illnesses is critical to addressing inequity in care.

Socio-demographic and economic determinants of household expenditure on eating out in India - Evidence from India Human Development Survey (IHDS) II.

Background: 'Eating out (EO)' has witnessed a significant increase across nations and in India. Understanding food behaviour from an economic standpoint is essential to recognize food systems and nutrition transition. Aim: Our work compared the macro-data on per capita income and gross state domestic product from India with household expenditure on eating out. Using the India Human Development Survey II micro-data we studied the socio-demographic and economic determinants of household expenditure on eating out. Methods: The study design is a secondary data analysis of India Human Development Survey II from a sample of N = 42,152 households. It included socio-demographic and economic predictors, such as religion, caste, residence, migration for work, education, number of household members, income source, total annual income, consumption expenditure and poverty status. Results: No consistent trends emerged in the macroeconomic comparisons using gross state domestic product and per capita income. Results of logistic regression showed that the reserved caste categories OBC [COR 1.2 (1.1-1.2)] and SC/ST/Others [COR 1.1 (1-1.1)], household heads education up to secondary [COR 0.4 (0.4-0.5)] and higher secondary and above [COR 0.7 (0.6-0.8)], urban place of residence [COR 0.55 (0.53-0.58)], organised sector [COR 0.7 (0.6-0.7)] as the income source, higher annual income [COR 0.52 (0.50-0.54)], higher annual consumption expenditure [COR 0.44 (0.42-0.46)] and above poverty line [COR 2.1 (1.9-2.2)] were significantly positively associated with expenditure on eating out (p = <0.05). All these variables stayed significant in the multinomial regression model as well. Conclusion: This analysis confirms the increase in household income along with other demographics, increases the frequency of eating out. However, such trends remained inconsistent in macroeconomic assessments using gross state domestic product and per capita income.

DETERMINANT OF CONSUMER SERVICE CONSUMPTION – A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RURAL AREAS OF MAJOR STATES INCLUDING GUJARAT AND INDIA

Three components, viz., income, consumption and savings are most invaluable indicators for economic development of any nation. From these three indicators, consumption plays vital role for the development process as high consumption encourages production activities which automatically leads to increase in employment and income generation which is again converted to consumption of miscellaneous goods and services. The rise in income results in higher demand of existing goods and services in the short run as well as in the long run. Even due to change in technology and fashion, the taste of population changes which results in demand of goods and services which were not existing previously. In this paper, rural areas of 15 major states, rural areas of 3 minor states and nation as a whole are considered to know the consumption pattern of non-food items. It is tried to analyze the effect of changes in income and relative price on different non-food goods and services. It is important to study the consumption of non-food items in the rural family as a part of service sector. In tis paper, per capita total consumption expenditure is taken as a proxy variable for per capita income, because more reliable data are available for the former as compared to the latter. Various models like linear, quadratic and power, have been fitted on consumer service consumption data, KEYWORDS – Consumer Service Consumption Expenditure, Total Consumption Expenditure, Rural Major States, Rural India, linear model, quadratic model, power model and concluded that power model is the most appropriate.

Market access, household dietary diversity and food security: Evidence from Eastern Africa

Improved access to markets can influence household dietary diversity, consumption expenditure, and food security through multiple pathways. Market access can increase smallholder farmers’ income through decreased transaction costs, improve diet quality, and reduce poverty and household food insecurity. Improved market access also expands the variety of food available, opening opportunities for consumption diversification. We examine the association between market access and household dietary diversity, consumption expenditure, and food security in the Eastern African countries of Ethiopia and Tanzania using nationally representative panel data from the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA). The empirical findings demonstrate that households located closer to market centers spend more on total household consumption expenditure, consume more diverse diets, and are less food insecure than households located farther away from markets. The results suggest that investing in accessible market development and rural infrastructure to link smallholder farmers to markets is essential for improving household dietary diversity and food security in sub-Saharan African countries.

Measuring the burden of accidental injuries in India: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Sample Survey (2017–18)

Globally, injuries are the leading cause of premature deaths and disability and account for nearly 9 per cent of total deaths worldwide. Like other countries, India also faces a very high burden of injuries, with the second most common cause of death and disability. Annually, 0.15 million people lose their lives due to accidental injuries/road traffic accidents in India, which is 11 per cent of the accident-related death worldwide. This study aims to analyse the socio-economic and demographic differentials in the magnitude of economic burden and coping strategies associated with accidental injuries in India. The study used the nationally representative cross-sectional data on the ‘Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India: Health, (2017–18)’ of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Simple descriptive statistics have been used to measure the incidence and intensity of accidental injuries. The economic burden is estimated through out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditure on accidental injuries and the use of different sources of finance to cope with the same. In addition, the logistic regression analysis has been used to analyse the association between socio-economic covariates and the likelihood of suffering from accidental injuries in India. The findings reveal that, unlike outpatient care, the high incidence in inpatient care reveals that hospitalisation is inevitable in most cases after accidental injuries. Among various socio-economic variables, the incidence of accidental cases is higher among individuals residing in urban areas, males, educated persons, and economically better-off sections of society. Also, the mean monthly OOP expenditure on the accidental injuries-affected population has been estimated at INR 2672 .46 (US$ 41.06) and INR 3041.64 (US$ 47.09) in inpatient and outpatient care, respectively. Almost the same sections and the individuals who received insurance spend more OOP expenditure on accidental injuries. However, OOP expenditure as a share of total consumption expenditure (TCE) is significantly high among their counterparts, such as rural inhabitants, illiterates, scheduled castes, the very poor and those who do not have any kind of health insurance coverage. In addition to savings/income, individuals depend more on the distress sources such as borrowings and selling of household assets to meet their OOP health expenditure in India. In conclusion, the high incidence of accidental injuries threatens people more than some of the other ailments in India. A strict motor vehicle act, administrative and political determination, awareness campaigns through various media platforms, diverse road lane systems and traffic norms can help reduce accidental fatalities in the country. Reducing the economic burden of accidental injuries requires increasing public spending on healthcare services as a percentage share of the country’s GDP. Furthermore, comprehensive universal health insurance coverage for all, including each component of healthcare expenditure, is the need of the hour.

Food security in Ukraine: state and current issues of nowadays

The problem of food security in Ukraine and in the world in general has become especially relevant due to the growing population on the planet, depletion of natural resources, declining soil productivity, climate change and military conflicts. The number of countries with existing food security problems has increased in recent years. Different views on food security, state of food security in Ukraine are analyzed and comparisons with the countries of Europe and the world are made. According to statistics, in 2020 the caloric content of the Ukrainian diet was only 7% higher than the threshold level of 2.500 kcal/day, but less than the minimum WHO physiological standard (3.000 kcal/day) while the caloric content of the Ukrainian diet in 1990 was 3597 kcal/day. In addition, the diet of the population of Ukraine remains unbalanced with a predominance of plant products. The most critical is the state of consumption of complete protein foods (meat, milk, fish) and vitamin products (fruits). Ukrainians consume even less than the minimum norm for fish and fish products, as well as fruit. The indicator of import dependence is calculated, according to which as of 2020 it was the highest for fish and fish products — 82%, which is 52% above the threshold level of 30%. The predominant share of imported supplies falls on fish species that are caught exclusively in the waters of maritime economic zones of other countries, while the consumption of fish and fish products by the population of Ukraine remains below the recommended dietary norms. It is established that due to domestic production more than 90% of our country meets the necessary consumer needs of the population for most foods. The analysis and comparative assessment of the structure of total consumer expenditures of households in 2016 and 2020, as well as comparisons with EU countries. According to the State Statistics Service, consumer spending of Ukrainian households is 91.4% of income. The largest share of their income (48.1%) Ukrainians spent on food, housing and utilities — 14.4%. In the EU, housing, utilities and fuel rank first in the structure of household consumption expenditures — 25.7% of total expenditures. Citizens of Slovakia and Finland spend the most on this item — 30.7% and 30.5% of all expenses, respectively. The lowest one is 15.5% in Lithuania. Europeans spent on food and non-alcoholic beverages on average 14.8% of the total consumer spending structure, second only to utilities.

Income, urbanisation and consumption of processed foods: Implications for nutrition and health policies for India

AbstractIndia has witnessed a rapid rise in personal income, increased spending on infrastructure and construction and urbanisation in the past three decades. Households have changed their eating habits by purchasing more processed food. This study examines the factors affecting India's consumption of and expenditures on processed foods. The study uses information from three rounds of data collected by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and probit and selection bias‐controlled tobit and ordinary least square (OLS) estimation procedures to estimate the empirical model. Findings reveal that the average expected per capita monthly spending on processed foods increased by about 77% between 1990–1991 and 2011–2012. An increase in total consumption expenditure and rapid urbanisation were the primary drivers of consumption and spending on processed foods by Indian households. Secondly, households with salaried or stable incomes were more likely to consume processed foods than other households. This study suggests public and private initiatives to improve human health and nutritional outcomes in Indian households. The government should strengthen food safety regulations related to processed food preparation, distribution and consumption.

Migrant remittances and consumption expenditure under rain-fed agricultural income: micro-level evidence from Ghana

ABSTRACT Using a repeated cross-section data set from Ghana for 1991/1992, 1998/1999, 2005/2006, 2012/2013 and 2016/17, and a Two-Stage Least Squares estimator, this paper investigates the effect of agricultural income on remittances and consumption expenditure. It is found that households in Ghana use remittances to protect themselves from decline in agricultural income due to rainfall failure. The results suggest that a 100 Ghana Cedis decrease in agricultural income leads to a 30 Ghana Cedis increase in remittances. The results further posit that rainfall-induced agricultural income changes affect total consumption and food expenditures of rural households. A 100 Ghana Cedis decrease in agricultural income due to rainfall failure leads to a 60 Ghana Cedis fall in total consumption expenditure, and 36 Ghana Cedis fall in food expenditure of rural households. Very poor households in rural areas are found to be more vulnerable to such rainfall-driven agricultural income changes.