Accounting for Urban-Rural Real Food Expenditure Differentials in Cameroon: A Quantile Regression-Based Decomposition
Accounting for Urban-Rural Real Food Expenditure Differentials in Cameroon: A Quantile Regression-Based Decomposition

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims at accounting for the urban-rural household real food expenditure differentials inCameroon. In particular, the paper: assesses the determinants of household real food consumptionexpenditure across percentiles; evaluates the direction of change of the elasticity of expenditure and theurban-rural household food expenditure gap between 2001 and 2007across percentiles; and investigates therole of access to endowments and returns to endowments in accounting for the urban-rural household realfood expenditure gaps across percentiles. The study uses the 2001 and 2007 Cameroon householdconsumption surveys, quantile regression analysis and a Quantile-Oaxaca-Blinder based framework todecompose the urban-rural food expenditure gaps across percentiles. Results indicate that the elasticity ofexpenditure and urban-rural food expenditure gaps declined significantly between 2001 and 2007across thequantiles under consideration. Results also show that real total expenditure predominantly explains real foodexpenditure and the urban-rural food expenditure gaps and returns to endowments overwhelmingly accountfor the urban-rural food expenditure gaps for both periods and across the quantiles under review. Some policyimplications are derived from the analysis.

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