Expenditure Patterns of Asian Americans: Evidence From the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1980–1992

This article applies a linear approximation of the Almost Ideal Demand System with a set of demographic variables to study the differences in expenditure patterns between Asian American households and households in three other ethnic/racial groups: Black, Hispanic, and White. Findings show that even after controllingfor other economic and demographic factors, compared with each of the three other ethnic/racial groups, Asian American households have significantly different expenditure patterns in 6 or more expenditure categories out of a total of 13. Besides implications for consumer educators, financial planners, and producers, the results of this study can provide guidelines for combining Asian American households with other ethnic/racial groups in expenditure studies so that households within the combined group can be as homogeneous as possible.