Allocation of time for meal preparation in a transition economy

The decision of how much time to allocate to meal preparation is an endogen ous variable to be determined by the opportunity cost of time, preference b etween market and nonmarket goods and leisure, and household production tec hnology. Using consumer survey data collected in Bulgaria in 1997, this stu dy measured the effect of household income on the amount of time allocated to meal preparation after controlling the effects of demographic, socio-eco nomic and other characteristics of households. We used the first-hurdle dom inance model to distinguish non-meal preparers from meal preparers. Since t he overall pattern of allocating time between market work, household activi ty and leisure in a particular country is likely to be conditional on the s tage of its economic development, this study presents a unique opportunity to assess the rationality of the time allocation behavior of consumers in a n economy in transition from a centrally-planned to a market-oriented syste m. Results showed that household income did not influence the decision of h ow much time to allocate to meal preparation. While the insignificant linka ge between income and time allocation to meal preparation could be due to t he differences in preference and household production technology. It can be also attributed to the legacy of four decades of a central-planning system and underdeveloped food manufacturing and service industries. (C) 2000 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.