The index of decent subsistence

Abstract The index of decent subsistence (IDS) is a price index that allows for purchasing substitutions when food prices change. The consumer's food basket is represented by a utility maximizing quadratic program that computes the cost of decent subsistence (CDS) and assures gastronomic equivalence among the food baskets optimized at various price levels. This IDS is the ratio of respective CDS measures. IDS estimates from USDA food group data are presented for the 1965–1975 and 1978–1989 time periods. These estimates are shown to be inconsistent with fixed weight price indexes computed for the same periods. Implications for the food stamp program and institution feeding systems are discussed.

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