We consider returns to scale in food preparation as a potential resolutionof a puzzle raised by Deaton and Paxson (Journal of Political Economy,106(5),897–930, 1998). We clarify the conditions under which returns to scale in foodpreparation can resolve the puzzle. The key requirement is that foods are hetero-geneous in time costs. We then show that detailed food expenditure and time use dataare consistent with larger households shifting to more time intensive foods.
Authors

Research Fellow University of Michigan
Tom is a Research Fellow at IFS, a Research Professor for the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.

Yuqian Lu
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11150-017-9399-4
- Publisher
- Springer
- Issue
- Volume 16, March 2018, pages 5-19
Suggested citation
Crossley, T and Lu, Y. (2018). 'Returns to scale in food preparation and the Deaton-Paxson puzzle' 16(2018), pp.5–19.
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