Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/180447 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11429
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We trace the development of the household expenditure survey from its conception during the Napoleonic Wars until the 1960s. We have compiled the first historical bibliography of household budget surveys in Western Europe and, using the surveys themselves as source material, have traced the development of their practice and methodology. First developed by private and academic researchers, and subsequently co-opted by governments, the surveys used the domestic consumption of working households to draw conclusions about the condition of labour. Their methodology evolved through international co-operation by researchers, and with informing the labour requirements of international trade as a priority. We argue that international networks and trans-national political structures exerted a strong influence on the development of surveys over time.
Subjects: 
budget studies
household expenditure surveys
living standards
cost of living inequality
working households
Europe
20th century
JEL: 
N33
N34
O15
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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