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The Run on Daily Foods and Goods after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake: A Fact Finding Analysis Based on Homescan Data

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  • Hori, Masahiro
  • Iwamoto, Koichiro

Abstract

Using high-frequency scan-based data on purchases by households compiled by a market research firm, this paper examines changes in consumption patterns in the period of confusion immediately after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. In particular, we focus on the panic buying of foods and daily necessities observed mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area immediately after the unprecedented disaster. The results of our empirical analysis suggest that the sudden increase in daily expenditure due to panic buying was mainly due to a jump in the share of households that engaged in buying; on the other hand, increases in prices and the quantities that each household purchased were limited. Furthermore, based on regression analyses on items for which panic buying was clearly observed, we found that households that engaged in panic buying appear to have hoarded a wide range of commodities at random (i.e., they purchased rice, bread, noodles, and whatever they could lay their hands on).

Suggested Citation

  • Hori, Masahiro & Iwamoto, Koichiro, 2013. "The Run on Daily Foods and Goods after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake: A Fact Finding Analysis Based on Homescan Data," CIS Discussion paper series 594, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hit:cisdps:594
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    File URL: https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/25588/cis_dp594.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tülin Erdem & Susumu Imai & Michael Keane, 2003. "Brand and Quantity Choice Dynamics Under Price Uncertainty," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 5-64, March.
    2. Abe, Naohito & Moriguchi, Chiaki & Inakura, Noriko, 2012. "The Great East Japan Earthquake and its Short-run Effects on Household Purchasing Behavior," Research Center for Price Dynamics Working Paper Series 2, Research Center for Price Dynamics, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
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    Cited by:

    1. J. Thomas & K. Mora, 2014. "Community resilience, latent resources and resource scarcity after an earthquake: Is society really three meals away from anarchy?," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 74(2), pages 477-490, November.
    2. Rebekah Paci-Green & Gigi Berardi, 2015. "Do global food systems have an Achilles heel? The potential for regional food systems to support resilience in regional disasters," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 5(4), pages 685-698, December.
    3. Kuan-Ming Huang & Ana Claudia Sant’Anna & Xiaoli Etienne, 2021. "How did Covid-19 impact US household foods? an analysis six months in," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-17, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Panic buying; hoarding; earthquake; scanner data; Japan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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