TY  - JOUR
AU  - Costa,Dora L.
TI  - Less of a Luxury: The Rise of Recreation since 1888
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 6054
PY  - 1997
Y2  - June 1997
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6054
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6054.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Dora Costa
Bunche Hall 9272
Department of Economics
UCLA
Box 951477
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1477
Tel: (310) 825-4249
Fax: (310) 825-9528
E-Mail: costa@econ.ucla.edu
AB  - I show that recreation has become much more egalitarian over the last hundred years by estimating recreational expenditure elasticities in 1888-1890, 1917-1919, 1935-1936, 1972-1973, and 1991.  I find that expenditure elasticities have fallen from around two at the beginning of the century to slightly more than one today and attribute this decline to rising incomes, declines in the price of recreation, and investment in public recreational goods.  My findings have implications for trends in the well-being of the poor relative to the rich and for long-term trends" in work hours and labor force participation rates.
ER  -