Engel's Law - Definition
Written by Jason Gordon
Updated at December 19th, 2020
- Accounting, Taxation, and Reporting
-
Law, Transactions, & Risk Management
Government, Legal System, Administrative Law, & Constitutional Law Legal Disputes - Civil & Criminal Law Agency Law HR, Employment, Labor, & Discrimination Business Entities, Corporate Governance & Ownership Business Transactions, Antitrust, & Securities Law Real Estate, Personal, & Intellectual Property Commercial Law: Contract, Payments, Security Interests, & Bankruptcy Consumer Protection Insurance & Risk Management Immigration Law Environmental Protection Law Inheritance, Estates, and Trusts
- Marketing, Advertising, Sales & PR
- Business Management & Operations
- Economics, Finance, & Analytics
- Professionalism & Career Development
- Courses
Back to:ECONOMIC ANALYSIS & MONETARY POLICY
Engels Law Definition
Engels law, being an economic theory, was founded by a German statistician named Ernst Engel in the year 1875. According to this theory, with the increase in income levels, there is a decrease in the extent of income apportioned for buying food. With the increase in income of a household, the proportion of income incurred on food expenses reduces and the proportion of income spent on expensive products such as luxury cars rises. For instance, Mr. A earns $50,000, and spends 1/4th of his income, that is $12,500 on food. When there is an increase in income to $100,000, it doesnt imply that he will spend twice the amount ($50,000) they previously spent on food. However, he will start spending for other things in order to improve his lifestyle.
A Little More on What is Engel's Law
Engels law says that people with lower income shell more percentage of their given income levels on food as compared to people with middle or high-income levels. When there is a rise in food costs including groceries and at restaurants, the lower-income people tend to spend more percentage of their income. Even today, economics considers the relationship and link between the consumption of food and income levels of people. It can specifically be related with the healthy lifestyle of people and offering them an improved quality of products so as to foster their well-being. The essence of intuition offered by Engels law paved path for having in-depth knowledge about the relationship between income levels and food consumption.
References for Engel's Law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engel%27s_lawhttps://www.investopedia.com Investing Financial Analysiswww.businessdictionary.com/definition/Engel-s-Law.htmlhttps://academic.oup.com/ajae/article/100/1/1/4209927https://thelawdictionary.org/engels-law/