Engel Curves for Food Away from Home by Circumstance of Consumption : The Case of Argentina

This paper studies the Engel’s relationship for the consumption of food away from home (FAFH) in Argentina. Different Engel curves and their respective expenditure elasticities are estimated, including socio-economic and demographic characteristics of households, and later computing the respective elasticity-expense. It concludes that the circumstances in which FAFH consumption occurs are crucial to its economic characterization. When FAFH occurs in leisure time, it appears to be a luxury, while in work or study circumstances, it turns out a necessity. Only the last case is consistent with the so-called Engel’s law