The household production approach is used to characterize the household's preference toward nutrients in food consumption. Elasticities of substitution and Hicksian price elasticities are estimated, price- and expenditure-nutrient elasticities are calculated. Results show that protein is the...

Although healthy foods can be affordable, if less healthy foods are cheaper, individuals may have an economic incentive to consume a less healthful diet. Using the Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database, we explore whether a select set of healthy foods (whole grains, dark green vegetables, orange...

Nontraditional stores, including mass merchandisers, supercenters, club warehouse stores, and dollar stores, have increased their food offerings over the past 15 years and often promote themselves as lower priced alternatives to traditional supermarkets. How much lower are food prices at these...

This report provides a detailed description of the methodology used to construct ERS’s Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database (Q-FAHPD). As the name suggest, these data provide quarterly observations on the mean price of 52 food categories for specific U.S. markets. We provide a description of...

This paper examines several approaches to introduce advertising in systems of demand equations. Advertising is included in the Rotterdam model using an unrestricted specification and three restricted specifications - advertising affects demand alternatively through (1) marginal utilities as in...

The differential demand system or Rotterdam model is extended to include lagged consumption through translation parameters, providing an alternative to simply adding constant terms to the model to allow for trends in consumption and changes in tastes. Application of the model to four broadly...