Estimating expenditure impacts without expenditure data using asset proxies

When asset indices are used in regressions the coefficients obtained are typically difficult to interpret. We show how lower bounds on expenditure effects can be extracted, if the relationship between the assets and expenditure can be calibrated on an auxiliary data set.

Research Highlights► Calibrated asset indices can be used to estimate lower bounds on expenditure effects. ► Results are more meaningful than coefficients from arbitrarily scaled indices. ► Body mass increases significantly with household expenditure in South Africa.