Impact of BSE and Bird Flu on Consumersf Meat Demand in Japan

This paper investigates the impacts of the BSE and Bird Flu on consumersf meat demand in Japan using the Almost Ideal demand system. BSE and Bird Flu scares bring about a fall in demand for beef and chicken respectively, and an upturn in demand for pork and fishery products, both of which are substitutes for beef and chicken in Japan. We also find that a Bird Flu outbreak has a negative impact on the market share for beef, although a BSE outbreak raises consumer demand for chicken. Empirical results also show that both impacts do not persist permanently, but remain for a period that might depend on the characteristics of the disease, such as incubation period, cure rate and infection risk, and on the differences in the government response to the particular disease crises.