Intrahousehold Time Allocation: The Case of Grocery Shopping

This paper analyzes the intrahousehold allocation of human resources to grocery shopping in a traditional male‐female household. A constrained utility maximization model is developed from which testable hypotheses relating to the choice of a household's grocery shopper are derived. The determinants which influence the choice of a shopper (either male, female, or both) are examined via a qualitative choice model. Results indicate that the choice of a shopper is explicable on economic grounds. Relative costs of shopping in terms of the foregone value of time and the efficiency of a shopper in searching for a lower price were found to be important determinants in the shopper selection process.