IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v9y2022i1d10.1057_s41599-022-01454-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relationship between households’ share of food expenditure and income across South African districts: a multilevel regression analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Kabeya Clement Mulamba

    (University of Johannesburg)

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between household income and the share of food expenditure in South Africa using clustered household income and socio-economic data published in the National Dynamics Income Study. To achieve this objective and because of the clustered nature of the data, a multilevel linear model, in particular, the random intercept model, was employed as a suitable method of investigation. Fixed effect methods were also used to compare results. The results confirmed that the share of household food expenditure is inversely related to household income in a district. This finding is consistent with Engel’s law, such that an increase in household income is related to a decrease in the proportion allocated to food items by a typical household within a district. It was found that the relationship between household income and food expenditure does not vary across districts. The finding also pointed out that the district context matters because the district’s average household income significantly explains the share of food expenditure at the household level.

Suggested Citation

  • Kabeya Clement Mulamba, 2022. "Relationship between households’ share of food expenditure and income across South African districts: a multilevel regression analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:9:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-022-01454-4
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-022-01454-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-022-01454-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-022-01454-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maneka Jayasinghe & Christine Smith, 2021. "Poverty Implications of Household Headship and Food Consumption Economies of Scales: A Case Study from Sri Lanka," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 157-185, May.
    2. Francesco Aiello & Graziella Bonanno, 2018. "Multilevel empirics for small banks in local markets," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 1017-1037, November.
    3. Belete, A. & Igodan, C.O. & M'Marete, C. & van Averbeke, W., 1999. "Analysis Of Rural Household Consumption Expenditure In South Africa: The Case Of Food Plot Holders In Tyefu Irrigation Scheme In The Eastern Cape Province," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 38(2).
    4. Marisa Coetzee, 2013. "Finding the Benefits: Estimating the Impact of The South African Child Support Grant," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(3), pages 427-450, September.
    5. Philippe De Vreyer & Sylvie Lambert & Martin Ravallion, 2020. "Unpacking Household Engel Curves," NBER Working Papers 26850, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Andrew Bell & Malcolm Fairbrother & Kelvyn Jones, 2019. "Fixed and random effects models: making an informed choice," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 1051-1074, March.
    7. Jennifer Waidler & Stephen Devereux, 2019. "Social grants, remittances, and food security: does the source of income matter?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(3), pages 679-702, June.
    8. Giorgio d’Agostino & Margherita Scarlato & Silvia Napolitano, 2018. "Do Cash Transfers Promote Food Security? The Case of the South African Child Support Grant," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 27(4), pages 430-456.
    9. Orazio Attanasio & Valérie Lechene, 2010. "Conditional cash transfers, women and the demand for food," IFS Working Papers W10/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    10. Pushkar Maitra & Ranjan Ray, 2006. "Household expenditure patterns and resource pooling: evidence of changes in post-apartheid South Africa," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 325-347, December.
    11. Aleksey Oshchepkov & Anna Shirokanova, 2020. "Multilevel Modeling For Economists: Why, When And How," HSE Working papers WP BRP 233/EC/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    12. Browne, M. & Ortmann, Gerald F. & Hendriks, Sheryl L., 2007. "Expenditure elasticities for rural households in the Embo ward, Umbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 46(4), pages 1-18, December.
    13. Orazio P. Attanasio & Valérie Lechene, 2014. "Efficient Responses to Targeted Cash Transfers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(1), pages 178-222.
    14. Steven F. Koch, 2022. "Equivalence scales in a developing country with extensive inequality," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 90(4), pages 486-512, December.
    15. Rulof Petrus Burger & Lodewicus Charl Coetzee & Carl Friedrich Kreuser & Neil Andrew Rankin, 2017. "Income and Price Elasticities of Demand in South Africa: An Application of the Linear Expenditure System," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(4), pages 491-514, December.
    16. Yatchew, Adonis & Sun, Yiguo & Deri, Catherine, 2003. "Efficient Estimation of Semiparametric Equivalence Scales with Evidence from South Africa," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 21(2), pages 247-257, April.
    17. Hymans, Saul H. & Shapiro, Harold T., 1976. "The allocation of household income to food consumption," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 167-188, May.
    18. Maneka Jayasinghe, 2019. "Dynamic trends in household poverty and inequality in Sri Lanka: do gender and ethnicity matter?," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 208-223, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Soseco & Isnawati Hidayah & Nila Cahayati & Fajar Try Leksono, 2024. "Access to Technology to Increase Food Resilience in Rural Households in Indonesia," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2024(1), pages 109-135.
    2. Daria Loginova & Stefan Mann, 2024. "Sweet home or battle of the sexes: who dominates food purchasing decisions?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Margherita Scarlato & Giorgio d'Agostino, 2019. "Cash Transfers, Labor Supply, and Gender Inequality: Evidence from South Africa," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 159-184, October.
    2. von Fintel, Dieter & Pienaar, Louw, 2016. "Small-Scale Farming and Food Security: The Enabling Role of Cash Transfers in South Africa's Former Homelands," IZA Discussion Papers 10377, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Echeverría, Lucía, 2020. "Modelos colectivos de consumo y distribución intra-hogar. Teoría y aplicaciones," Nülan. Deposited Documents 3832, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    4. Adhikari, Tamanna & Greyling, Talita & Rossouw, Stephanie, 2021. "The ugly truth about social welfare payments and households' subjective well-being," GLO Discussion Paper Series 883, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Gabrielle Wills & Servaas van der Berg & Leila Patel & Bokang Mpeta, 2020. "Household resource flows and food poverty during South Africa’s lockdown: Short-term policy implications for three channels of social protection," Working Papers 22/2020, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    6. Lara Cockx & Nathalie Francken, 2016. "Evolution and impact of EU aid for food and nutrition security: a review," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 572519, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    7. Waidler, Jennifer, 2016. "On the fungibility of public and private transfers: A mental accounting approach," MERIT Working Papers 2016-060, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    8. Almås, Ingvild & Ringdal, Charlotte & Hoem Sjursen, Ingrid, 2021. "Understanding inequality within households," GLO Discussion Paper Series 961, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Neryvia Pillay Bell, 2020. "The impacts of unconditional cash transfers on schooling in adolescence and young adulthood: Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers 821, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    10. Oyenubi, Adeola & Rossouw, Laura, 2024. "Is the impact of the South African child support grant on childhood stunting robust? An instrumental variable evaluation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    11. José L. Casco, 2024. "Intra-household resource shares under poverty transfers: evidence from Ecuador," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1243-1274, September.
    12. Calvi, Rossella & Penglase, Jacob & Tommasi, Denni & Wolf, Alexander, 2023. "The more the poorer? Resource sharing and scale economies in large families," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    13. Marisa von Fintel, 2021. "Chronic Child Poverty and Health Outcomes in South Africa Using a Multidimensional Poverty Measure," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(4), pages 1571-1596, August.
    14. Olivier Basdevant & Dalmacio Benicio & Mr. Yorbol Yakhshilikov, 2012. "Inequalities and Growth in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Region," IMF Working Papers 2012/290, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Jayasinghe, Maneka & Selvanathan, E.A. & Selvanathan, Saroja, 2021. "Energy poverty in Sri Lanka," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    16. Nokuthula Ngubane & Pranitha Maharaj, 2018. "Childbearing in the Context of the Child Support Grant in a Rural Area in South Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(4), pages 21582440188, December.
    17. Chong, Zhi Zheng & Lau, Siew Yee, 2023. "A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Educational Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers," MPRA Paper 113587, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Bridgman, Grace & von Fintel, Dieter, 2022. "Stunting, double orphanhood and unequal access to public services in democratic South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    19. Echeverría, Lucía & Menon, Martina & Perali, Federico & Berges, Miriam, 2019. "Intra-household inequality and child welfare in Argentina," Nülan. Deposited Documents 3051, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:9:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-022-01454-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.