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Consumption Patterns (consumption + pattern)
Kinds of Consumption Patterns Selected AbstractsCommunity Supported Agriculture, Food Consumption Patterns, and Member CommitmentCULTURE, AGRICULTURE, FOOD & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 1 2002Assistant Professor Carol Goland First page of article [source] Regional Inequalities in Consumption Patterns: A Multilevel Approach to the Case of ItalyINTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL REVIEW, Issue 1 2007Filippa Bono Summary The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the disparities in the Italian regions on the demand side. In more detail, an attempt will be made to find if the consumption behaviour of Italian households is different in the regions. With this in mind, Istat's 2000 Italian Family Budget data set was analysed. The data in question, which were collected through a two-stage sample over Italy's 20 regions, contains information regarding the expenses of approximately 23,000 households. In this analysis, both households and regions are considered as units: households are nested in the regions so that the basic data structure is hierarchical. In order to take this hierarchical structure into account, a multilevel model was used, making it possible for parameters to vary randomly from region to region. The model in question also made it possible to consider heterogeneity across different groups (regions), such as stochastic variation. First, regional inequalities were tested using a simple model in which households constituted the first level of analysis and were grouped according to their region (the second level). As a second step, and in order to investigate the interaction between geographical context and income distribution, another model was used. This was cross-classified by income and regions. The most relevant results showed that there is wide fragmentation of consumption behaviour and, at the same time, various differentiated types of behaviour in the regions under analysis. These territorial differentials become clear from income class and items of consumption. Resumé L'objet du travail est l'analyse des différences, entre les régions italiennes, des comportements des consommateurs. Le traitement statistique des données individuelles est originale car il est conduit par un modèle ,multilevel'. Le modèle multilevel tient compte de la structure hiérarchique de données et permet au paramètres estimée de varier par hasard. En outre, ce modèle permet que l'hétérogénéité entre le différent groupes de familles (les unités statistiques) peut varier par hasard entre le régions. Pour l'analyse des différences régionales modèle ,multilevel nous avons estimée un premier modèle avec les familles au premier dégrée hiérarchique et les régions au second dégrée. Car le facteur géographique interagit avec la distribution du revenue dans chaque région nous avons estimée un autre modèle cross-classifiée par lequel le familles sont groupées par le revenue. [source] Characterization of the electrical energy consumption of a building for the dimensioning of a solar-hydrogen energy systemINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 11 2010S. Véjar Abstract The photovoltaic (PV) applications where the dimensioning is effected through the daily energy balance criteria obtained by the estimation of the energy consumption depending on the power and time of use of the electrical apparatus are limited to autonomous PV systems with well-defined end use. Applications where one would like to electrify complex end use, such as office buildings, schools, hospitals, laboratories, residential units, etc., quantifying the daily energy consumption is difficult mainly due to two aspects. First, there will be great number of a variety of electrical appliances and second the proportionate electrical consumption of each one of them is unpredictable. For this reason it is necessary to establish a methodology that permits one to quantify precisely the daily energy consumption pattern to predict the energetic functioning of the PV system whose size may be determined by this procedure. In this work we describe a methodology for the energetic quantification of the installed equipments by using a Power Quality Analyzer to obtain the historical global energy consumption, daily energy consumption (kWh,day,1, kVAh,day,1) and the energy quality for the dimensioning of the PV system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Food consumption and demographics in Japan: Implications for an aging populationAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007Mauricio V.L. Bittencourt This study estimates a cross-sectional model based on the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) to examine the determinants of food consumption patterns in Japan over life-cycle periods. The test of structural changes, the analysis of the effects of demographic characteristics, and the estimation of expenditure and price elasticities are conducted from a random sample of 1,281 households from a Japanese household survey in 1997. Results show that each economic or noneconomic factor has a different impact on food consumption over a lifetime. Changes in consumption of some food groups can be explained by price and income effects where others can be explained by demographic characteristics. Financial constraint is not binding and residential location is likely to have little or no impact on predicting consumers' food choices at different periods of their lives. Other key factors that affect consumption pattern include family size, number of children, lifestyle, and health concern. [EconLit citations: C310, D120, D910.] © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 23: 529,551, 2007. [source] Wives' Value of Time and Food Consumed Away from Home in Taiwan*ASIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 3 2005Shao-Hsun Keng Q18; J2 In the present paper, we examine the relationship between wives' value of time and expenditures on food away from home (FAFH) in Taiwan between 1983 and 2000. An endogenous switching regression model is used to model the household's consumption decision on FAFH. The empirical results show that wives' value of time, household income, presence of young children and grandparents, and wives' educational attainment are important factors for both participation in consuming and amount spent on FAFH. The income elasticities of FAFH have increased from 0.09 to 0.17 over the sample period. Moreover, other things being equal, the level of spending on FAFH has also increased over time. The results suggest that there has been a structural change in the consumption pattern of FAFH by families in Taiwan. [source] Methamphetamine use among Australian workers and its implications for preventionDRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 3 2008Professor ANN M. ROCHE Director Abstract Introduction and Aims. Little attention has been directed to the use of methamphetamine among Australian workers. To address this, a study was conducted that examined drug consumption patterns of the Australian work-force. Design and Method. A secondary analysis of the 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) data was undertaken that focused on methamphetamine use among those in paid employment. Results. Methamphetamine use in the past 12 months was reported by 4.0% of workers compared to 2.2% of respondents not in the paid work-force. A larger proportion of male (4.8%) than female workers (3.0%) used methamphetamine. The highest prevalence occurred among 18,29-year-old workers (11.2%; males: 12.6%; females: 9.4%), and among workers in hospitality (9.5%), construction (5.4%) and transport (5.4%) industries and among tradespeople (6.5%). Significantly more methamphetamine users reported absenteeism compared to users of other illicit drugs and non-drug users. Among respondents reporting methamphetamine use, 13.4% reported absenteeism due to illicit drug use, while 56.8% reported absenteeism due to any illness or injury. Significantly more methamphetamine users (32.9%) reported going to work under the influence than users of other illicit drugs. Compared to users of other illicit drugs, methamphetamine users were also significantly more likely to drive a car, operate heavy machinery or abuse someone while under the influence. Discussion and Conclusions. The specific details of the profile of workers using methamphetamine and the impact it has on work performance allows for the development of targeted interventions and tailored prevention strategies previously not possible. [source] A randomized trial of the effects of two novel nicotine replacement therapies on tobacco withdrawal symptoms and user satisfactionADDICTION, Issue 7 2010Hayden McRobbie ABSTRACT Aims To determine effects on craving, user satisfaction, and consumption patterns of two new nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) used for eight hours after overnight tobacco abstinence. Design In a within-subject, cross-over trial participants were randomly assigned Zonnic® nicotine mouth spray (1 mg/spray), Zonnic® nicotine lozenge (2.5 mg), Nicorette® gum (4 mg) and placebo lozenge on each of four study days. Setting University research unit. Participants Forty-seven dependent adult smokers. Measurements Participants rated their urges to smoke, irritability, concentration and restlessness before and during the first hour of product use on a 100-point scale. A subsample of 11 participants provided blood samples for nicotine analysis. Findings All active products reduced craving significantly more than placebo (mean reductions of 28.6, 25.8, 24.7 and 8.9 points for mouth spray, gum, lozenge and placebo). Mouth spray relieved craving faster than placebo and gum with significant reductions within five minutes of use (mean differences of ,14.5 (95% CI: ,23.0 to ,6.0) and ,10.6 (95% CI: ,19.1 to ,2.1) with placebo and gum respectively. Mouth spray produced a faster time to maximum plasma nicotine concentration (14.5 minutes, 95% CI: 8.0 to 21.0) compared to the lozenge (30.3 minutes, 95% CI: 21.1 to 39.5) and gum (45.8 minutes, 95% CI: 36.2 to 55.4). Maximum concentrations of blood nicotine were higher with mouth spray (10.0 ng/ml) and lozenge (10.8 ng/ml) compared to gum (7.8 ng/ml). Both lozenge and mouth spray were well tolerated. Conclusions The mouth spray and lozenge are at least as effective as 4 mg nicotine gum in relieving craving suggesting that they are likely to be effective in aiding smoking cessation. The mouth spray may be particularly useful for acute craving relief. [source] Herbivore control of annual grassland composition in current and future environmentsECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 1 2006Halton A. Peters Abstract Selective consumption by herbivores influences the composition and structure of a range of plant communities. Anthropogenically driven global environmental changes, including increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), warming, increased precipitation, and increased N deposition, directly alter plant physiological properties, which may in turn modify herbivore consumption patterns. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that responses of annual grassland composition to global changes can be predicted exclusively from environmentally induced changes in the consumption patterns of a group of widespread herbivores, the terrestrial gastropods. This was done by: (1) assessing gastropod impacts on grassland composition under ambient conditions; (2) quantifying environmentally induced changes in gastropod feeding behaviour; (3) predicting how grassland composition would respond to global-change manipulations if influenced only by herbivore consumption preferences; and (4) comparing these predictions to observed responses of grassland community composition to simulated global changes. Gastropod herbivores consume nearly half of aboveground production in this system. Global changes induced species-specific changes in plant leaf characteristics, leading gastropods to alter the relative amounts of different plant types consumed. These changes in gastropod feeding preferences consistently explained global-change-induced responses of functional group abundance in an intact annual grassland exposed to simulated future environments. For four of the five global change scenarios, gastropod impacts explained > 50% of the quantitative changes, indicating that herbivore preferences can be a major driver of plant community responses to global changes. [source] The Institutional Trap in the Czech Rental Sector: Nested Circuits of Power, Space, and InequalityECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2005Stefan Buzar Abstract: An "institutional trap" is a sequence of misplaced regulatory steps that have increased the costs of institutional transformation to the level at which inefficient structures can remain stable, despite changes in the external economic environment. This is a common occurrence in Central and Eastern Europe because of the path-dependent nature of the postsocialist transformation process. This article examines the organizational and territorial transformations of housing, utility, and social welfare policies in the Czech Republic through a comparative analysis of institutional power geometries and household expenditures at the national scale. The results indicate that the Czech Republic is facing an institutional trap in the restructuring of its rent control and social welfare policies. The trap operates within three nested circuits: the power geometries of postsocialist reforms, the geographies of housing prices and social welfare, and the consumption patterns of disadvantaged households. The lock-in created by the trap can be resolved only through carefully targeted and synchronized social support and housing investment programs, parallel to rent liberalization. This article argues for comprehensive, rather than partial, solutions to the institutional trap and emphasizes the need for a deeper understanding of the relationships among institutions, space, and inequality. [source] Alcohol consumption patterns and risk factors among childhood cancer survivors compared to siblings and general population peersADDICTION, Issue 7 2008E. Anne Lown ABSTRACT Aims This study describes alcohol consumption among adult survivors of pediatric cancer compared to sibling controls and a national sample of healthy peers. Risk factors for heavy drinking among survivors are described. Design, setting and participants Cross-sectional data were utilized from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study including adult survivors of pediatric cancer (n = 10 398) and a sibling cohort (n = 3034). Comparison data were drawn from the National Alcohol Survey (n = 4774). Measurement Alcohol consumption, demographic, cancer diagnosis, treatment and psychosocial factors were measured. Findings Compared to peers, survivors were slightly less likely to be risky [adjusted odds ratio (ORadj) = 0.9; confidence interval (CI) 0.8,1.0] and heavy drinkers (ORadj = 0.8; CI 0.7,0.9) and more likely to be current drinkers. Compared to siblings, survivors were less likely to be current, risky and heavy drinkers. Risk factors for survivors' heavy drinking included being age 18,21 years (ORadj = 2.0; 95% CI 1.5,2.6), male (ORadj = 2.1; 95% CI 1.8,2.6), having high school education or less (ORadj = 3.4; 95% CI 2.7,4.4) and drinking initiation before age 14 (ORadj = 6.9; 95% CI 4.4,10.8). Among survivors, symptoms of depression, anxiety or somatization, fair or poor self-assessed health, activity limitations and anxiety about cancer were associated with heavy drinking. Cognitively compromising treatment, brain tumors and older age at diagnosis were protective. Conclusions Adult survivors of childhood cancer show only a modest reduction in alcohol consumption compared to peers despite their more vulnerable health status. Distress and poorer health are associated with survivor heavy drinking. Screening for alcohol consumption should be instituted in long-term follow-up care and interventions among survivors and siblings should be established to reduce risk for early drinking. [source] The use of eco-labels: a review of the literatureENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 6 2002Dr Ibon Galarraga Gallastegui Labelling programs seek first to encourage a move towards more environmentally friendly consumption patterns, and second to induce productive structures, governments and other agents to increase the environmental standards of the products and services in the economy. This paper is devoted to revising the relevant literature on the issue. We divide the topic into three areas: (i) the study of demand, where most of the information available on the demand for labelled goods is presented; (ii) the study of supply, devoted to the analysis and summary of the information available in the literature and finally (iii) the market and trade impacts of labelling programmes, where the research carried out so far is carefully presented. The paper reveals the lack of proper and conclusive research to date, as well as the complexity of the topic of research. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment. [source] The distributional effects of carbon and energy taxes: the cases of France, Spain, Italy, Germany and UKENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2002Dr. E. J. Symons This paper examines the likely immediate impact effect of some pollution taxes on the tax burden of households in a number of European countries. The total effect on households of such taxes is assessed using input,output analysis. Thus both the direct effect of taxes, through increased fuel prices, and the indirect effect, through increased prices of other goods, can be assessed simultaneously. This input,output approach allows the generation of direct plus indirect pollution intensities for all household consumption categories, for, in principle, a number of pollutants (CO2, SO2, NOx, particulates). These intensities could then be used to assess the impact on households of pollution taxes. This paper concentrates on CO2 and energy, performing a static analysis of the effect of a tax on the carbon or energy content of goods using the known consumption patterns for the various countries, both in aggregate and for different income groups. This allows a first assessment of the regressive/progressive effects of such taxes and an indication of consumer welfare loss. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Prediction of alcohol-related harm from controlled drinking strategies and alcohol consumption trajectoriesADDICTION, Issue 4 2004J. W. Toumbourou ABSTRACT Aims To establish predictors of age 21 alcohol-related harm from prior drinking patterns, current levels of alcohol consumption and use of controlled drinking strategies. Participants One thousand, five hundred and ninety-six students recruited from an initial sample of 3300 during their final year of high school in 1993. Design Longitudinal follow-up across five waves of data collection. Setting Post high school in Victoria, Australia. Measurements Self-administered surveys examining a range of health behaviours, including alcohol consumption patterns and related behaviour. Findings Drinking behaviours at age 21 were found to be strongly predicted by drinking trajectories established through the transition from high school. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that alcohol-related harms at age 21 were reduced where current levels of alcohol use fell within limits recommended in Australian national guidelines. After controlling for this effect it was found that the range of strategies employed by participants to control alcohol use maintained a small protective influence. Post-high-school drinking trajectories continued to demonstrate a significant effect after controlling for current behaviours. Findings revealed that over one quarter of males and females drank alcohol, but on a less-than-weekly basis. This pattern of alcohol use demonstrated considerable stability through the post-school transition and was associated with a low level of subsequent harm at age 21. Conclusions Future research should investigate whether encouraging more Australian adolescents to drink alcohol on a less-than-weekly basis may be a practical intervention target for reducing alcohol-related harms. [source] The income elasticity of tax revenue: estimates for income and consumption taxes in the United KingdomFISCAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2004John Creedy Abstract This paper provides estimates of individual and aggregate revenue elasticities of income and consumption taxes in the UK over the period 1989,2000. It shows how budgetary changes, including changes to income-related deductions, have substantially affected income elasticities. The estimates of consumption tax revenue elasticities show that changes in consumption patterns over time are important. A merit of the approach used here is that elasticity estimates can be calculated readily from official published sources. [source] Eating fast food: attitudes of high-school studentsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 1 2007Jan Mattsson Abstract Alarmingly consistent recent research shows that industrially produced foods such as fast food contain compounds that add to obesity and high cholesterol among young people. Less physical activity and a higher propensity to eat ready-made food (in Sweden and internationally) have aggravated the health situation for the young generation. They also have become ,addicted' to sugar by the consumption of lemonade and other sweet drinks that are often served in conjunction with fast food. Food consumption patterns are highly cultural, and, once formed in early years, they become difficult to change. The findings of this study, which was based on a small sample of written accounts and transcribed interviews, indicate that high-school students in Sweden are well aware of the good and bad attributes of fast food, such as: speed, convenience, fat and sugar. Clear differences in attitude were found between male and female students: female students view fast food in a broad food chain context, whereas male students concentrate on fast eating and satiety. [source] Consumer sensitivity to changes in tax policy on consumption of alcoholINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 3 2006David E. Smith Abstract Marketers and economists have followed the consumption patterns of alcoholic beverages for many years. Public officials have studied the negative effects of consuming alcohol and have advocated a variety of measures to curtail consumption. Previous studies have also measured the price elasticity. This comparative study is based on a 40-year analysis, and compares the consumption patterns for beer, spirits and wine in three Nordic countries. Although the cultural context of Denmark, Norway and Sweden are similar, nevertheless significant differences in the patterns of consumption and prices for alcoholic beverages have been evidenced overtime. A comparison of the per capita drinking patterns and the taxation effectiveness are presented. Even though the elasticities varied, the data indicate relative sensitivity to price changes and a decline in spirits consumption as well as switching effects to lower alcohol-content beverages. [source] Food consumption patterns, dietary quality and health status of expectant mothers: case studies in suburban and rural communities in GhanaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 1 2002Christina A. Nti Abstract The study was conducted to determine the food consumption patterns, dietary quality and health status of expectant women and also to assess their level of awareness of nutritional requirements during pregnancy. Food beliefs, taboos and superstitions held by the women were also investigated. Using the purposive sampling technique, 30 pregnant women attending the Maternal and Child Health Clinic at Dodowa (rural) and University Hospital, Legon (suburban), were selected for the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on the respondents' nutritional knowledge, beliefs, taboos and superstitions and health status. A food frequency questionnaire and the 24-h dietary recall method were used to obtain information on food consumption patterns and dietary quality. The study revealed that, although the majority of the respondents (83.3%) had some knowledge of nutrition, not all were applying it in their feeding practices because of financial constraints. With regard to consumption patterns, most of the women (83.3%) were having three meals a day, while the rest either ate twice a day or anytime they were hungry. Seventy-three per cent of the respondents also increased their food intake during pregnancy. Foods eaten were based mainly on starchy roots and tubers, cereals and vegetables. Legumes, oilseeds and fruits were often lacking in the main meals of respondents. Although animal products were consumed daily, the quantities taken were very small to provide for adequate protein, especially in the rural area. Various types of food were avoided by some of the expectant mothers for reasons such as nausea, loss of appetite, taboos and superstition. With regard to dietary quality, respondents from the rural area had diets of poorer quality in terms of nutrient intake compared with those from the suburban area. In both communities, iron contents of diets were quite low. Forty-seven per cent of the women interviewed were anaemic, with a higher prevalence of anaemia being observed in the rural community. Common ailments reported by the women were dizziness, headache, waist pains and malaria. Based on the results of the study, it was recommended that nutrition education for pregnant women should be stepped up at antenatal clinics especially in rural areas. [source] Changes in family food habits: the role of migrationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 3 2000Clara Opare-Obisaw Abstract The food habits of people generally dictate their nutritional well-being, which subsequently affects their physical and mental health. A change in environment is one of the major factors that could bring about positive or negative changes in food consumption patterns. The food habits of 50 migrant families living in a suburb of Accra were studied to find out what changes have taken place as a result of a change in living environment. The homemaker in each family was interviewed to obtain information on socioeconomic characteristics, past and present food procurement and consumption patterns, food avoidances and factors that influence food selection and consumption. The findings revealed that, although the majority stuck to foods they were accustomed to, there were striking changes in sources of food procurement, the number of meals prepared at home and the relative frequency of consumption of some staple foods. One-third of the study group felt that their diets had become poorer as a result of the change in environment. Two factors, time and money, were associated with the changes that had taken place. The study provides some evidence for the existence of inadequate diets among migrant families. This might even reflect a more serious situation facing the numerous migrant youth, who have no families to cater for them and, hence, put their health at risk. Home economists and other related professionals could be instrumental in drawing up intervention programmes to ensure adequate selection and consumption of food to promote good health among migrants to the city. [source] Residential energy consumption patterns: the case of LebanonINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 8 2005Ahmad Houri Abstract In an attempt to fill a significant gap in baseline information, 509 households have been studied to analyse the residential consumption patterns in the urban environment in Lebanon. The average annual household energy consumption has been found to be 6907 kWh, whereas per capita consumption is 1727 kWh. Seasonal and monthly variations are analysed indicating increased energy consumption in the summer months accounting for 28% of total annual consumption. Correlations are indicated for energy consumption with apartment price, area, income and number of residents. Multiple regression analysis indicated statistical significance of income, area and number of residents to the energy consumption. Based on current consumption and electricity generating technologies, 1.6 tons of CO2, 7.3 kg of SO2 in addition to other pollutants are generated per resident. Comparative analysis indicates that Lebanon has electricity consumption similar to that of Western Europe, paving the way for significant energy saving potential. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Parental consumer learning or ,keeping up with the children'JOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 4 2007Karin M. Ekström Children are socialized as consumers earlier now than any other time in history. The rapidly changing pace of society especially with regards to technology, information processing, transportation, etc. makes it possible for them to experience purchasing and consumption at a much faster rate than that of their parents. Children may possess knowledge which their parents lack and they may share their experience and knowledge and in so doing influence their parents. It can result in parents learning about consumption from their children, something which has not been sufficiently acknowledged by previous research. The purpose of this paper is to further the understanding of how consumption patterns and knowledge are transferred from children to parents. In-depth interviews carried out with ,children' of age group 13,30 show that they contributed information prior to and during the purchase, but also afterwards by helping to instal or showing parents how to use a product. The adolescents and adult children had often introduced new products to their parents and made them aware of recent trends. Often they also seemed to deal more easily with new technology than their parents. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Chance Discovery by Stimulated Groups of People.JOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2002Application to Understanding Consumption of Rare Food Chance discovery is to become aware of and to explain the significance of a chance, that is, a piece of information about events or situations that is significant for decision making. Sometimes a chance is rare and its significance is unnoticed. This paper proposes a method to merge three keys for chance discovery: (1) communication; (2) imagination and (3) data mining. Applied to the case of meal service, a visualised data mining method KeyGraph is used for discovering unnoticed demands underlying family consumption behaviour. The visualised relations between usual and unusual consumption patterns stimulate the awareness of and the communication among housewives talking in a room. This leads to the discovery of latent family consumption demands and to the proposal of serving meals that have unnoticed significant merits for their families. [source] The Built-in Flexibility of Income and Consumption TaxesJOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 4 2002John Creedy This paper reviews, and synthesises within a uniform framework, a number of analytical results on the built-in flexibility of taxation. Established results for income taxes are reviewed and integrated with recent results for consumption taxes. These help to provide a better understanding of the determinants of the revenue responsiveness properties of different taxes. They also provide convenient expressions for the calculation of tax revenue elasticities in practice. It is shown that the magnitude of revenue elasticities can be expected to differ substantially for alternative taxes, for different forms of the same tax, and for the same tax over time as incomes change relative to tax thresholds and as consumption patterns change. These results are especially relevant for the many industrialised countries which have undertaken major fiscal reforms in recent years with, often unintended, consequences for revenue elasticities. [source] Food consumption and demographics in Japan: Implications for an aging populationAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007Mauricio V.L. Bittencourt This study estimates a cross-sectional model based on the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) to examine the determinants of food consumption patterns in Japan over life-cycle periods. The test of structural changes, the analysis of the effects of demographic characteristics, and the estimation of expenditure and price elasticities are conducted from a random sample of 1,281 households from a Japanese household survey in 1997. Results show that each economic or noneconomic factor has a different impact on food consumption over a lifetime. Changes in consumption of some food groups can be explained by price and income effects where others can be explained by demographic characteristics. Financial constraint is not binding and residential location is likely to have little or no impact on predicting consumers' food choices at different periods of their lives. Other key factors that affect consumption pattern include family size, number of children, lifestyle, and health concern. [EconLit citations: C310, D120, D910.] © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 23: 529,551, 2007. [source] Analyses of consumers' dietary behavior: An application of the AIDS model to supermarket scanner dataAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2003Eugene Jones Nationwide food consumption surveys often find no difference in the diets of lower and higher income Americans, while studies of particular food commodities find major differences. These contrasting results represent a consumption paradox. We attempt to gain an understanding of this paradox by using supermarket scanner data to examine food purchases and, by extension, consumption patterns for consumers in two, geographically distinct, income areas. These areas are part of the larger Columbus, OH, metropolitan area (CMA) and six stores are selected for purchase and consumption analyses,three from the lowest income areas of the CMA and three from the highest income areas. Seven product categories are analyzed in this study and these categories are subdivided into meaningful nutritional classes. An Almost Ideal Demand System is employed and the empirical results reveal major differences in consumption behavior for the two groups. [EconLit citations: D120 and D190.] © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 19: 203,221, 2003. [source] Household meat demand in Greece: A demand systems approach using microdataAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2003Panagiotis Lazaridis This article examines meat consumption patterns of households in Greece using data from family budget surveys. For that purpose the linear approximate Almost Ideal Demond System was employed to investigate the economics and demographic effects on the demand for four types of meat. Prices were adjusted for quality, and the demographic translation method was used to incorporate the demographic variables. Finally, the two-stage generalized Heckman procedure was employed to take into account censoring of the dependent variables. [EconLit citations: Q11, D12.] © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 19: 43,59, 2003. [source] The demand impacts of chicken contamination publicity,a case studyAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2002Roger A. Dahlgran Adverse publicity regarding food contamination can depress demand, causing lost producer revenue. This study addresses the magnitude of those losses through the analysis of the impact of TV and print news coverage of bacterial contamination of chicken in the United States. An inverse demand model for chicken is estimated using weekly data from 1982 through 1991. Our findings indicate adverse publicity about salmonella contamination of chicken depressed the demand for chicken, but that the effect was small, less than 1% during the period of maximum exposure. Further, consumers soon forget this news as they reverted to prior consumption patterns in a matter of weeks. [EconLit citation: D120] © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Food consumption in the European Union: Main determinants and country differencesAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2001A. Gracia Consumers in the European Union are involved in integration processes that head towards homogenization of food consumption patterns. Several factors are encouraging these homogenization trends based on consumers' similarities and corporate activities. In this article a review of the food consumption structure, across European Union countries, is undertaken. First, food consumption trends in different countries are described and, second, factors, which determine consumer choices, are presented. Despite the fact that European consumers face more homogeneous food market conditions, food consumption differences exist because preferences and food habits are still different among European consumers, and the market is fragmented (EconLit: L660). © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] An error corrected almost ideal demand system for major cereals in KenyaAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2010Jonathan M. Nzuma Error correction model; AIDS; Cereal consumption; Kenya Abstract Despite significant progress in theory and empirical methods, the analysis of food consumption patterns in developing countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has received very limited attention. An attempt is made in this article to estimate an Error Corrected Almost Ideal Demand System for four major cereals consumed in Kenya employing annual data from 1963 to 2005. This demand system performs well on both theoretical and empirical grounds. The symmetry and homogeneity conditions are supported by the data and the,Le Chatelier,principle holds. Empirically, all own-price elasticities are negative and significant at 5% level and irrespective of the time horizon, maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum may be considered as necessities in Kenya. While the expenditure elasticities of all four cereals are positive, they are inelastic both in the short run and in the long run. Finally, wheat and rice complement maize consumption in Kenya while sorghum acts as a substitute. Since cereal consumers have price and income inelastic responses, a combination of income and price-oriented policies could improve cereal consumption in Kenya. [source] The importance of exposure for healthy eating in childhood: a reviewJOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 4 2007L. Cooke Abstract Children's food preferences are strongly associated with their consumption patterns. Identifying the factors that influence preferences is therefore crucial to the development of effective interventions to improve children's diets. Perhaps the most important determinant of a child's liking for a particular food is the extent to which it is familiar. Put simply, children like what they know and they eat what they like. From the very earliest age, children's experiences with food influence both preferences and intake, and research suggests that the earlier and broader that experience, the healthier the child's diet. Laboratory studies of children's food acceptance have indicated that repeated opportunities to taste unfamiliar foods results in increased liking and consumption. In order to investigate whether these results can be replicated in real-world situations, a series of naturalistic studies testing the efficacy of exposure-based interventions have been carried out. In a school-based study large increases in liking and intake of raw red pepper were seen in 5- to 7-year olds and two further studies, in which mothers used exposure techniques to increase children's acceptance of vegetables, achieved similar results. If future large-scale interventions prove to be successful, training could be offered to health professionals or directly to parents themselves. [source] Differential Effects of Restricted Versus Unlimited High-Fat Feeding in Rats on Fat Mass, Plasma Hormones and Brain Appetite RegulatorsJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 7 2009T. Shiraev The rapid rise in obesity has been linked to altered food consumption patterns. There is increasing evidence that, in addition to total energy intake, the macronutrient composition of the diet may influence the development of obesity. The present study aimed to examine the impact of high dietary fat content, under both isocaloric and hypercaloric conditions, compared with a low fat diet, on adiposity, glucose and lipid metabolism, and brain appetite regulators in rats. Male Sprague,Dawley rats were exposed to one of three diets: control (14% fat), ad lib high-fat palatable (HFD, 35% fat) or high-fat palatable restricted (HFD-R, matched to the energy intake of control) and were killed in the fasting state 11 weeks later. Body weight was increased by 28% in unrestricted HFD fed rats, with an almost tripling of caloric intake and fat mass (P < 0.001) and double the plasma triglycerides of controls. Glucose intolerance and increased insulin levels were observed. HFD-R animals calorie matched to control had double their fat mass, plasma insulin and triglycerides (P < 0.05). Only ad lib consumption of the HFD increased the hypothalamic mRNA expression of the appetite-regulating peptides, neuropeptide Y and pro-opiomelanocortin. Although restricted consumption of palatable HFD had no significant impact on hypothalamic appetite regulators or body weight, it increased adiposity and circulating triglycerides, suggesting that the proportion of dietary fat, independent of caloric intake, affects fat deposition and the metabolic profile. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||