TY - JOUR
T1 - Matching food with mouths
T2 - A statistical explanation to the abnormal decline of per capita food consumption in rural China
AU - Yu, Xiaohua
AU - Abler, David
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to the editor Dr. Mario Mazzocchi and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Funding from German Research Foundation (DFG, RTG1666 ) and National Science Foundation of China (IDs: 71473123 and 71273006 ) are acknowledged as well.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2016/8/1
Y1 - 2016/8/1
N2 - This study provides an alternative explanation for the unusual apparent decline in food consumption in rural China after 2000. We find that it is mainly attributable to significant measurement errors in the Chinese Rural Household Survey and the calculation of per capita food consumption. In a household survey, total consumption for a household in a certain period is often well recorded, and per capita consumption is obtained by dividing total consumption by household size. Such a calculation of per capita food consumption is vulnerable to a mismatch between food and mouths. Total consumption may be subject to measurement errors caused primarily by food away from home (FAFH). Also, the household size recorded in the survey is not necessarily the same as the number of mouths (consumption household size), who consume the food recorded in the survey. Our results indicate that per capita food consumption in rural China is currently being underestimated by about 30%. Our results also indicate that income elasticities of food consumption are greater than measured elasticities based on the Rural Household Survey data. A direct policy implication for avoiding statistical errors in calculating per capita consumption would be correctly recording the consumption household size corresponding to total consumption in household surveys.
AB - This study provides an alternative explanation for the unusual apparent decline in food consumption in rural China after 2000. We find that it is mainly attributable to significant measurement errors in the Chinese Rural Household Survey and the calculation of per capita food consumption. In a household survey, total consumption for a household in a certain period is often well recorded, and per capita consumption is obtained by dividing total consumption by household size. Such a calculation of per capita food consumption is vulnerable to a mismatch between food and mouths. Total consumption may be subject to measurement errors caused primarily by food away from home (FAFH). Also, the household size recorded in the survey is not necessarily the same as the number of mouths (consumption household size), who consume the food recorded in the survey. Our results indicate that per capita food consumption in rural China is currently being underestimated by about 30%. Our results also indicate that income elasticities of food consumption are greater than measured elasticities based on the Rural Household Survey data. A direct policy implication for avoiding statistical errors in calculating per capita consumption would be correctly recording the consumption household size corresponding to total consumption in household surveys.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84977632135&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84977632135&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.06.009
DO - 10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.06.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84977632135
SN - 0306-9192
VL - 63
SP - 36
EP - 43
JO - Food Policy
JF - Food Policy
ER -