In terms of collecting comprehensive panel expenditure data, there are trade-offs to be made in terms of the demands imposed on respondents and the level of detail and spending coverage collected. Existing comprehensive spending data tends to be cross-sectional whilst panel studies include only...

This paper considers what role in-home barcode scanner data could play in collecting household expenditure information as part of national budget surveys. One role is as a source of validation. We make detailed micro-level comparisons of food and drink expenditures in two British datasets: the...

We develop a new quantile-based panel data framework to study the nature of income persistence and the transmission of income shocks to consumption. Log-earnings are the sum of a general Markovian persistent component and a transitory innovation. The persistence of past shocks to earnings is...

We consider the life-cycle problem of a household that in each period decides how much to consume and how to allocate spouses' time to work, leisure, and childcare. In an environment with uncertainty, the allocation of goods and time over the life cycle plays the further role of providing...