Do Prices and Attributes Explain International Differences in Food Purchases? / Pierre Dubois, Rachel Griffith, Aviv Nevo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dubois, Pierre.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Griffith, Rachel.

Nevo, Aviv.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w18750.

NBER working paper series no. w18750

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2013.

Summary:

Food purchases differ substantially across countries. We use detailed household level data from the US, France and the UK to (i) document these differences; (ii) estimate a demand system for food and nutrients, and (iii) simulate counterfactual choices if households faced prices and nutritional characteristics from other countries. We find that differences in prices and characteristics are important and can explain some difference (e.g., US-France difference in caloric intake), but generally cannot explain many of the compositional patterns by themselves. Instead, it seems an interaction between the economic environment and differences in preferences is needed to explain cross country differences.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2013.