چکیده:
In welfare economic studies، because of the differences among households scale، we cannot consider household expenditures without attention to this factor. A simple method to consider household scale in welfare analysis is the usage of the per capita expenditure. But، the usage of per capita expenditure ignores economies of scale. In fact، per capita expenditure is a biased variable، and undervalues the welfare of populous households. The Equivalence Scale is an appropriate solution for this problem and presents an index for welfare comparison among households with different scales. This paper tries to estimate the equivalence scale for Iranian urban households. It calculates Equivalence scale index for Iranian households with 2 up to 6 members. Income-expenditure data for 15010 urban households in 1386 is used. The results show that Equivalence Scale index in various income levels is different. In addition، it increases with the increase of relative income.
خلاصه ماشینی:
According to studies by Deaton and Zaidi (2002), just as price indices are used to compare the actual consumption level of households with different costs of living in different time periods, the equivalent scale index is also a similar tool for comparing the expenditures of households with different sizes.
In any practical study on the equivalent scale index, a fundamental welfare question must be answered: how much additional income is needed for a household with specific demographic characteristics to achieve a welfare level equal to that of a reference household?
In contrast, the complete demand system approach provides a correct equivalent scale based on fixed utility, which is specified by an extended linear expenditure system and examines a basket examines a complete commodity basket with all its dependencies and relative prices (Belkorbi and Donaldson, 1993; Lubell, 1989; Deaton and Muellbauer, 1980).
(Refer to the page image) Based on relationship (13), the equivalent scale index was calculated for households of 2-6 people at different income levels and is presented in Figure 1.
The equivalent scale indicates that, as the size of a household increases, how much additional expenditure is needed for that household to achieve a level of welfare equal to that of a reference household (a 1-person household).
Considering the expenditure of households with different sizes (from 1 to 6 people) to achieve the welfare level of the reference household, the equivalent scale index has been calculated for 2-6 person households at each income level.
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