Cross section consumer expenditure data are frequently used to make conclusions about consumer demand behavior. Such conclusions, however, can only be justified under certain assumptions, which are often left unstated in the empirical demand literature. An assumption of this type, the metonymy...

It is shown how one can effectively use cross-section data in modelling the change over time in aggregate consumption expenditure of a heterogeneous population. The starting point of our aggregation analysis is a dynamic behavioral relation on the household level. Based on certain hypotheses on...

An index of “behavioral heterogeneity” for every finite population of households is defined. It is shown that the higher the index of behavioral heterogeneity the less sensitive depends the aggregate consumption expenditure ratio upon prices. As a consequence, a high index implies a tendency...