Browsing by Author "Vivier, Chanté"

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    Overcoming measurement error in household consumption data : using novel data to characterise consumption
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Vivier, Chanté; Von Fintel, Dieter; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Economics.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: The quality of household consumption data is declining, despite their centrality in answering important economic questions. As a result, a number of alternative approaches to gathering household consumption and expenditure data have been proposed in an attempt to address the declining quality of the data. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on the measurement and characterisation of household consumption through the use of novel data in the form of household municipal solid waste and retail store receipts. This paper theorises that household waste and store receipts can be used to construct more direct measures of consumption and expenditure, respectively, and in so doing address the measurement errors to which traditional sources of household consumption data are prone. On the premise that these alternative sources of data are not prone (or at least not as prone) to the same measurement errors characteristic of traditional sources of consumption data, it uses these measures to characterise household consumption behaviour of households in two towns in South Africa. The paper finds that, used together, the store receipts and household waste tell a congruent story. The results from this paper suggest that there is potential for the use of store receipts and household waste as a measure of expenditure and consumption, respectively.