Center for Agricultural and Rural Development
Center for Agricultural and Rural Development

Using Income Classes to Estimate Consumption Parameters for Food Policy Analysis

June 1996 [96-WP 159]
Authors:
  • Jacinto F. Fabiosa
  • Samarendu Mohanty
  • Darnell B. Smith
  • William H. Meyers

Suggested citation

Fabiosa, J.F., S. Mohanty, D.B. Smith, and W.H. Meyers. 1996. “Using Income Classes to Estimate Consumption Parameters for Food Policy Analysis.” Working paper 96-WP 159. Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University.

Summary

How can economists estimate consumption parameters by income classes? The approach used in this paper combines price elasticities estimated from aggregated market data and income-class-specific elasticities derived from household expenditure surveys using Slutsky relationships to calculate income-class-specific price elasticities. The approach was applied to estimate income-class-specific price elasticities for major agricultural commodities consumed in Jamaica.