On the Income Dependence of Equivalence Scales

We suggest a simple survey method for obtaining direct subjective estimates of equivalence scales, also appropriate for testing whether equivalence scales depend on reference-household income. We implement our approach in two countries, Germany and France. In both countries independence of base is rejected. In particular, we find that equivalence scales depend negatively on reference income, an indication of increasing economies of scale in household consumption as living standards go up. Our estimation method is non-parametric, and it allows us to test generalized equivalence-scale exactness, which is not rejected in any of our samples.