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Article
Non-Food Expenditures and Consumption Inequality in India
Ecoonomic and Political Weekly (2015)
  • Amit Basole, University of Massachusetts Boston
  • Deepankar Basu, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Abstract
This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about economic inequality in India during the post-reform period. We analyze consumption inequality through the hitherto neglected lens of nonfood expenditure. Using household level consumption expenditure data from the quinquennial “thick” rounds of the NSS, we show that inequality within food and non-food groups has declined, even as overall expenditure inequality has increased over time. We suggest that the rise in overall expenditure inequality is due to the increased weight in the household budget of non-food spending, which tends to be more unequal than food spending. We also show that inequality is very different across broad non-food items. Durables, education, healthcare, and consumer services show the most rapid increases in real expenditure, and also display the highest levels of inequality. Finally, we offer some possible mechanisms for this phenomenon and suggest policy measure to deal with this form of inequality.
Disciplines
Publication Date
September, 2015
Citation Information
Amit Basole and Deepankar Basu. "Non-Food Expenditures and Consumption Inequality in India" Ecoonomic and Political Weekly Vol. 50 Iss. 36 (2015)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/deepankar_dasu/24/