Accurate price and quantity data are fundamental in order to estimate price elasticities, construct cost of living indices, standard of living measures and poverty indices. In the absence of prices, unit values are often used as substitutes. This is a common practice in LDCs, where the shortage...

Using quadratic Engel curves with measurement errors, we identify the proportion of urban households in Ethiopia for whom food exhibits the characteristics of a luxury commodity. The threshold welfare level beyond which food ceases to be a luxury is found to lie between the 35th and 47th...