Factor Intensities and Locational Linkages of Rural Consumption Patterns in Sierra Leone

Abstract An understanding of consumer behavior is important for the analysis of the effects of changes in income distribution on the development process. Factor intensities and locational linkages of consumption patterns at different income levels are estimated for rural households in Sierra Leone. Results lend support to the hypothesis that low income households consume goods and services requiring less capital and foreign exchange and more labor than do higher income households. At all income levels households allocate more than 75% of consumption expenditures to goods produced in rural areas. Rural consumption linkages with urban sectors, then, are not well developed.