TY  - JOUR
TI  - Changes in Out-of-Home Food and Alcohol Expenditure during the COVID-19 Pandemic
T2  - HSE Economic Journal 
IS  - HSE Economic Journal 
KW  - households
KW  - intergroup analysis
KW  - out-of-home food expenditure
KW  - alcohol expenditure
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - rigidity of quarantine measures
AB  - This study investigates changes in the expenditure on out-of-home food and alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research specifically explores intergroup variations among households, taking into account the dissimilarity of Russian regions in light of the degree of quarantine restrictions enforced. To test the research hypotheses, we use microdata from the Household Budget Survey conducted by the Federal State Statistics Service. To compare the expenditures on out-of-home food and alcohol in regions with soft, medium, and hard restrictive measu­res, we employ t-test for comparing means and the Kolmogorov - Smirnov test forcomparing distributions. The Tobit model is applied to compare different social groups' household spending habits. The joint analysis of out-of-home food and al cohol expenditure enables the separation of involuntary savings from coping stra­tegies using models for censored data, thereby facilitating an in-depth assessment of household well-being in the face of shocks. Our findings show a reduction in out-of-home food expenditure across all social groups and all levels of quarantine restrictions. The share of alcohol expenditure decreased in almost all social groups in regions with soft measures but significantly increased in those with medium and hard restrictions.
AU  - Valentin Voytenkov
UR  - https://ej.hse.ru/en/2025-29-1/1025694209.html
PY  - 2025
SP  - 132-159
VL  - 29