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A Demand Systems Analysis of Food Commodities by U.S. Households Segmented by Income
Author(s) -
Park John L.,
Holcomb Rodney B.,
Raper Kellie Curry,
Capps Oral
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1243703
Subject(s) - economics , income elasticity of demand , commodity , income distribution , consumption (sociology) , poverty , subsistence agriculture , engel curve , population , distribution (mathematics) , adjusted gross income , agricultural economics , labour economics , demographic economics , econometrics , price index , gross income , inequality , public economics , agriculture , geography , economic growth , mathematics , demography , social science , mathematical analysis , archaeology , sociology , market economy , state income tax , tax reform
Using the 1987–88 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey, twelve food commodity groups were analyzed according to household poverty status. Parameter estimates were used to obtain subsistence expenditures, own‐price elasticities, expenditure elasticities, and income elasticities. Own‐price elasticities were similar between the income groups for most commodities. However, income elasticities were consistently higher for the lower‐income group. The use of average estimates of price and income elasticities for the population as a whole for the projection of individual commodity demands is not likely to be successful if notable changes are evident in income distribution.