What Happens to Patterns of Food Consumption when Food Prices Change? Evidence from A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Food Price Elasticities Globally

Abstract

Recent years have seen considerable interest in examining the impact of food prices on food consumption and subsequent health consequences. Fiscal policies targeting the relative price of unhealthy foods are frequently put forward as ways to address the obesity epidemic. Conversely, various food subsidy interventions are used in attempts to reduce levels of under-nutrition. Information on price elasticities is essential for understanding how such changes in food prices affect food consumption. It is crucial to know not only own-price elasticities but also cross-price elasticities, as food substitution patterns may have significant implications for policy recommendations. While own-price elasticities are common in analyses of the impact of food price changes on health, cross-price effects, even though generally acknowledged, are much less frequently included in analyses, especially in the public health literature. This article systematically reviews the global evidence on cross-price elasticities and provides combined estimates for seven food groups in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries alongside previously estimated own-price elasticities. Changes in food prices had the largest own-price effects in low-income countries. Cross-price effects were more varied and depending on country income level were found to be reinforcing, undermining or alleviating own-price effects.

The food environment, its effects on dietary consumption, and potential for measurement within agriculture-nutrition interventions

“…Two recent papers provide a systematic review of existing own-price and crossprice elasticity data for food (Cornelsen et al 2014;Green et al 2013). Using a meta-regression model, the authors produced combined uncompensated elasticity estimates for seven food groups in low, middle, and high-income countries.…”

“…Using a meta-regression model, the authors produced combined uncompensated elasticity estimates for seven food groups in low, middle, and high-income countries. A 10 % increase of the price of fruits/vegetables/legumes (FVL) predicts a reduction in their consumption by 7.2 % in low incomecountries (6.5 % in middle-income countries and 5.3 % in high-income countries), while the same increase in cereal prices is associated with a small but significant (0.7 %) increase in FVL consumption in low-income countries (Cornelsen et al 2014). Similarly, a 10 % increase in the price of meat and dairy will reduce their consumption by 7.8 % on average (8.0 % for fish), and the cross-price elasticity between cereals and meat is insignificant (Cornelsen et al 2014;Green et al 2013).…”

Potential of Meat Substitutes for Climate Change Mitigation and Improved Human Health in High-Income Markets

“…This is modeled based on cross-price elasticities, which measure the change in demand for one "good, " based on a price change in another (Cornelsen et al, 2014).…”

Mapping and linking supply- and demand-side measures in climate-smart agriculture. A review

“…7 Pearson correlation matrix of the human development index (HDI) and country-level opportunities for implementing site-dependent and climate-smart interventions at the supply and demand sides not only depend on food availability but also on food access (Schmidhuber and Tubiello 2007;Vermeulen et al 2012;Wheeler and von Braun 2013). Price elasticities are higher for animal than for plant-based products (Cornelsen et al 2015). Since a reduction in meat consumption is a key leverage for climate change mitigation by consumers (Table 3), the price increases necessary to mitigate climate change at the supply side might also contribute to mitigating climate change at the demand side.…”

“…Since a reduction in meat consumption is a key leverage for climate change mitigation by consumers (Table 3), the price increases necessary to mitigate climate change at the supply side might also contribute to mitigating climate change at the demand side. However, meat consumption is especially high in high-income countries (Pradhan et al 2013), where food price elasticities are lower (Cornelsen et al 2015). In addition, in high-income countries, where food consumption is typically saturated and a significant share of the income is spent on luxuries like recreation and cultural activities (Regmi and Meade 2013), consumers can afford to spend more money on food, thus compensating for higher production costs of climate-smart agriculture.…”