Revisiting Aggregate U.S. Meat Demand with a Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates Approach: Do We Need a More General Theory?

Abstract

Although meat demand is one of the most studied issues in agricultural economics, our understanding of this phenomenon has been hampered by valid concerns about model specification uncertainty. This article revisits the need for more general theories of aggregate U.S. meat demand. Using a Bayesian averaging of classical estimates approach, we draw comprehensive inferences over 1,048,576 demand systems. We find very little evidence supporting the need for more general theories that include demand determinants beyond prices and expenditures. We find strong evidence in support of symmetry and negativity, but strong evidence against homogeneity, which is consistent with other research. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

Impacts of Animal Well‐Being and Welfare Media on Meat Demand

“…All beef, pork and poultry quantity and price series were obtained from the United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS, 2001). Our aggregate commodity (non-meat food) price and quantity indices were derived following Eales and Unnevehr (1993), Wang and Bessler (2003), Bryant and Davis (2008) and Tonsor et al (2010). Non-meat food expenditures are calculated as total food expenditures less beef, pork and poultry expenditures.…”

Estimating Structural Change with Smooth Transition Regressions: An Application to Meat Demand

“…Examples pertaining especially to meat demand in the U.S. and elsewhere include Chavas (1983), Dahlgran (1987), Eales and Unnevehr (1988) Moschini and Mielke (1989), Alston and Chal-fant (1991), and more recently, Davis (1997) and Bryant and Davis (2008). Work in a similar spirit has been done in the context of the demand for fats and oils by Goodwin et al (2003) and in factor demand equations for U.S. food and kindred products manufacturing sector by Goodwin and Brester (1995).…”

The producer welfare effects of trade liberalization when goods are perishable and habit‐forming: the case of asparagus

“…We use the latter method. While the variance in elasticities may be obtained analytically through the variance of the estimated parameters, we use a Monte Carlo Simulation method recommended by Bryant and Davis (). In our application, 5,000 thousand draws of the parameters are generated in MATLAB using the multivariate random normal number generator using the estimated mean and covariance matrix of the parameter.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that habit effects are significant in a variety of applications (Becker et al., ; Carroll et al., ; Dynan, ; Fuhrer, ), including food demand (Blanciforti and Green, ; Holt and Goodwin, ; Zhen et al., ). Some research, however, has failed to find evidence of habits (Bryant and Davis, ). The habit effect, therefore, might be idiosyncratic to the commodity considered.…”