A Further Analysis of Irish Household Budget Data, 1951-1952. ESRI General Research Series Paper No. 23, August 1964

In a previous study (Leser, x962) which will be briefly referred to as E.R.I. Paper No. 4, some of the published results of the 1951-52 household budget enquiry (Central Statistics Office, 1954) were analysed. In view of the limitations of the data which were available in published form, it was at that time considered doubtful whether a very detailed commodity breakdown was warranted for the purposes of constructing expenditure functions and estimating elasticities of demand. Moreover, the mathematical model adopted in E.R.I. Paper No. 4 made extensive computations rather laborious. In view of the interest in economic planning and in econometric results helping to supply a basis for development plans which has recently been aroused in this country, it is now felt that the results of a more detailed analysis to which the household budget data may be subjected, should be placed on record. Thus, estimates of expenditure elasticities will be given for 87 commodities or components of total expenditure as well as for I4 commodity groups; an attempt is made to isolate the effects of variations in household size and in household composition ; and social class differences in expenditure patterns are subjected to scrutiny