Digital Commons Network^™

India’S Calorie Consumption Puzzle: Insights From The Stochastic Cost Frontier Analysis Of Calorie Purchases, Gautam Hazarika, Sourabh Bikas Paul

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

Between the early 1970s and very nearly the present, Indians’ per capita calorie consumption declined. This decline, perplexing in the face of rising per capita income when malnutrition is rampant, has been termed India’s Calorie Consumption Puzzle. It has been partially attributed to a squeeze in the household food budget. This study employs Stochastic Cost Frontier Analysis to evaluate this explanation, upon the logic that such a squeeze shall likely result in the rising cost-efficiency of calorie purchases, that is, the more economical purchase of calories. Analysis of household expenditure data from India’s National Sample Survey reveals that Indian households’ …