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Abstract
In response to the Deaton and Dreze (2009) explanation of a downward shift in the calorie Engel curve in terms of lower requirements due to health improvements and lower activity levels in India, we develop an alternative explanation embedded in a standard demand theory framework, with food prices and expenditure (as a proxy for income) cast in a pivotal role. We find robust food price and expenditure effects and shifting food price elasticities. There are shifts in demands due to factors other than lower requirements. So, while the Deaton and Dreze (2009) explanation is not rejected, it is arguable that it is complementary to the demand based explanations.
Notes
1 The predicted expenditure is determined by household characteristics (numbers of adult males and females, gender of household head, highest educational attainments of adult males and females, land owned, household type (whether it is self-employed in nonagriculture, self-employed in agriculture, agricultural labour). Details will be furnished on request.
2 See, for example, Pitt (1983), Pitt and Rosenzweig (1985) and Behrman and Deolalikar (Citation1988).
3 To avoid tedious exposition, commodities refer to their prices throughout the analysis. Sometimes food prices are explicit but more often just the commodities whose prices are commented upon.