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The effects of price on household demand for food and calories in poor countries: are our databases giving reliable estimates?

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  • John Gibson
  • Scott Rozelle

Abstract

Food price policy relies heavily on estimated price elasticities of food demand to help balance the nutritional and economic objectives in poor countries. Economists use either unit values (ratios of household expenditure to quantity purchased) or community prices (enumerated from vendors in local markets) as proxies for market prices when estimating price elasticities with household survey data. Biases are believed to result from using unit values, due to measurement error and quality effects, but evidence on this issue is lacking and even less is known about community prices. This article provides an empirical evidence from Vietnam, which suggests that economists should exercise caution when estimating price elasticities from household surveys. A 14-food demand system is estimated alternatively with unit values or community prices, and the elasticity of calories with respect to rice prices is calculated. This elasticity is more than twice as large (-0.54 versus -0.22) when community prices are used rather than unit values. Hence, conclusions about the nutritional effects of rice price increases appear sensitive to data choices made by economists. More generally, this discrepancy suggests that the household survey databases commonly used by economists may not provide reliable estimates.

Suggested Citation

  • John Gibson & Scott Rozelle, 2011. "The effects of price on household demand for food and calories in poor countries: are our databases giving reliable estimates?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(27), pages 4021-4031.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:43:y:2011:i:27:p:4021-4031
    DOI: 10.1080/00036841003781478
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Minot, Nicholas & Goletti, Francesco, 2000. "Rice market liberalization and poverty in Viet Nam:," Research reports 114, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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    1. Gibson, John & Kim, Bonggeun, 2013. "Quality, Quantity, and Nutritional Impacts of Rice Price Changes in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 329-340.
    2. Capps, Oral & Wang, Lingxiao, 2024. "U.S. Household Demand System Analysis for Dairy Milk Products and Plant-Based Milk Alternatives," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343575, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Andalón, Mabel & Gibson, John, 2018. "The ‘soda tax’ is unlikely to make Mexicans lighter or healthier: New evidence on biases in elasticities of demand for soda," MPRA Paper 86370, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Hoa K. Hoang, 2018. "Analysis of food demand in Vietnam and short†term impacts of market shocks on quantity and calorie consumption," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 83-95, January.
    5. Mabel Andalon & John Gibson, 2017. "The 'Soda Tax' is Unlikely to Make Mexicans Lighter: New Evidence on Biases in Elasticities of Demand for Soda," Working Papers in Economics 17/07, University of Waikato.
    6. Milan Ščasný & Šarlota Smutná, 2021. "Estimation of price and income elasticity of residential water demand in the Czech Republic over three decades," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 580-608, June.

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