Time Value and Its Impact on Household Food Expenditures Away From Home

Abstract

Food away from home (FAFH) expenditure equations derived from household production theory stress the importance of of time constraint implicit in household decision making. Numerous methods have been suggested in the literature to quantify the value of time. The measure of time value developed in this study was based on the opportunity cost approach and indicates the importance of correcting for labor force participation selection bias when estimating potential wages for non-labor-force participants. In general, value of time, income, household size and composition, and other environmental variables significantly influenced FAFH expenditures. The results also indicate the importance of distinguishing between FAFH expenditures at different types of eating places.

Doing what has to be done: strategies and orientations of married and single working mothers for food tasks

“…While there is little difference in budget proportion spent on food, dual-parent households in the U.S. spend more in absolute and relative terms on restaurant meals and convenience foods (Abdel-Ghany and Schwenk, 1993;Ahuja and Walker, 1994;Weiss, 1984). Several studies have noted that single employed mothers spent less time and effort than married mothers on household tasks, especially food-related ones (Burden, 1986;McCracken and Brandt, 1990;Fassinger, 1993;South and Spitze, 1994). Also, in single-parent households, there was more sex-segregated household task assignment to children.…”

Examining Malaysian Household Expenditure Patterns on Food-Away-From-Home

“…Given the scanty research on the sociodemographic variables likely to affect Malaysian household expenditures on FAFH, this study sought guidance from the previous studies by Stewart et al (2004), Manrique and Jensen (1998), Capps, Jr. and Park (1997), Byrne et al (1996), McCracken andBrandt (1987), andCapps, Jr. et al (1985). The following socio-demographic characteristics were eventually chosen for their possible influence on FAFH expenditure patterns: (1) age of household head, (2) ethnicity/race, (3) education, (4) gender, (5) household size, (6) total household monthly income, and (7) location (Table 1).…”

“…Previous studies by McCracken and Brandt (1990) suggest that a dummy variable based on race be included in household expenditure studies to allow for the possibility that cultural and ethnic differences may influence food expenditure patterns. In the case of Malaysia, Ong (1993) also noted that culture affects an individual's preferences as a consumer, including that of the type of food consumed.…”