Ethnic Differences in Household Expenditure Patterns

Using 13 years of Consumer Expenditure Survey data with price information from the Consumer Price Index and the American Chamber of Commerce Cost of Living Index five household expenditure patterns are identified: shelter‐dominated, food‐and‐utilities‐dominated, health‐care‐dominated, transportation‐dominated, and service‐dominated. Compared to non‐Hispanic White households, Asian American households are more likely to have shelter‐dominated, but less likely to have service‐dominated expenditure patterns; non‐Hispanic Black households are more likely to havefood‐and‐utilities‐dominated, but less likely to have shelter‐dominated and health‐care‐dominated expenditure patterns; and Hispanic households are more likely to have shelter‐dominated and food‐and‐utilities‐dominated, but less likely to have health‐care‐dominated and service‐dominated expenditure patterns, other things equal. These results are discussed in the context of a conceptualframework of how ethnicity affects households' economic behavior.