Robert O. Weagley

Leisure expenditures of retired and near-retired households.

This study examines the determinants of household expenditures on active and passive leisure by using a double-hurdle model to distinguish between the decision to purchase and the decision of expenditure. The analyzed data were the 1995 Consumer Expenditure Survey. Retirement was a significant variable in explaining leisure expenditures and the effect varied by type of leisure expenditure. Greater income elasticities for active, as compared to passive, leisure as well as for retired, as compared to near-retired, households indicate the growing importance of leisure as one enters retirement.

Household Demand for Market Purchased, Home Producible Commodities

The purpose of this study was to obtain a better understanding of the household-s choice to purchase market commodities that could be substituted for home pro duced commodities. A household production model provided the theoretical framework. Logit demand functions for 12 different market commodities were estimated. The commodities were house cleaning, car repair, home repair, lawn care, exterior painting, interior painting, wall papering, food preparation, clothing construction, clothing repair, clothes laundering, and day care for children. The empirical results were used to classify these various activities as relatively sepa rable or inseparable household production activities. The value of time was found to be an important determinant in the purchase of market commodities. The results have implications for family economists and for marketers of household services.