| Abstract: |
The study focuses on the usage of income in Germany as well as in Lower
Saxony. Concretely, the material situation of the German and the Lower
Saxonian persons in the household context and their willingness for
expenditures are stated. As database the scientific use file of the Income and
Expenditure Survey (Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe, EVS) 2003 is used.
In detail, calculations especially concerning the item “living” are made.
Furthermore, income and price elasticities are computed in order to find out
(with respect to the elasticity of demand behavior) whether there are
remarkable differences between Germany as a whole and Lower Saxony. In the
empirical part of the study we found commonalities but also some differences
between both regional units. Examples for differences are the higher
proportions of ownership, higher average and marginal consumption rates, and
lower “minimum expenditures” in Lower Saxony than in Germany as a whole. These
results are coherent with the higher demand elasticities in Lower Saxony
compared to Germany as a whole. Such divergencies were also revealed in the
following socio-demographic differentiations: age of the household’s head, age
of all household members, sex of the household’s head, nationality of the
household’s head, household type, and household size, although they have been
statistically not significant frequently. |