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The study uses 2006~2011 "Taiwan Family Income and Expenditure Survey" data. It aims to study important factors affecting household consumption expenditure in Taiwan. Independent variables include categories of pensions and income, composition of family members, residential housing, automotive and household equipments, financial crisis, and macroeconomic conditions. Dependent variables are consumption expenditures of food, clothing, housing, transportation, health care,leisure, and total consumption. Ordinal Least Squares (OLS) and Quantile Regression(QR) methods are used for empirical estimation. Results show that pension has significantly positive effects on almost all consumption categories. Other income also has similar effects. Factor of family members above 65 years old has positive effects on food and medical consumption but negative effects on clothing, transportation and telecommunication, and leisure. Financial tsunami negatively affects many consumption categories. Economic growth rate has positive effects on almost all consumption categories. The rate of stock price change is negatively associated with many consumption categories. Compared with OLS results, results from quantile regression reveal the distributional effects of independent variables on various quantiles of each dependent variable. Important economic implications are also discussed relating to crucial factors influencing various consumption categories.
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