Ausgabenanalysen für Deutschland und Niedersachsen – Berechnungsergebnisse auf Basis der Einkommens‐ und Verbrauchsstichprobe 2003[Analysis of expenditures for Germany and Lower Saxony - Empirical results on the Basis of the Income and Expenditure Survey 2003]

The study focuses on the usage of income in Germany as well as in Lower Saxony. Concretely, the material situation of the German and the Lower Saxonian persons in the household context and their willingness for expenditures are stated. As database the scientific use file of the Income and Expenditure Survey (Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe, EVS) 2003 is used. In detail, calculations especially concerning the item “living” are made. Furthermore, income and price elasticities are computed in order to find out (with respect to the elasticity of demand behavior) whether there are remarkable differences between Germany as a whole and Lower Saxony. In the empirical part of the study we found commonalities but also some differences between both regional units. Examples for differences are the higher proportions of ownership, higher average and marginal consumption rates, and lower “minimum expenditures” in Lower Saxony than in Germany as a whole. These results are coherent with the higher demand elasticities in Lower Saxony compared to Germany as a whole. Such divergencies were also revealed in the following socio-demographic differentiations: age of the household’s head, age of all household members, sex of the household’s head, nationality of the household’s head, household type, and household size, although they have been statistically not significant frequently.