Denna studie utvärderar ekonomiska styrmedels effekt på konsumtionen av livsmedel samt ifall skatter och subventioner kan vara en metod som styr matkonsumtionen mot hälsosamma livsmedelsval. Sex livsmedelsgrupper analyseras i studien och dessa är sötsaker och glass, kött, grönsaker, mejerivaror, bröd och spannmålsprodukter samt frukt och bär. Fyra scenarier som representerar olika skatte- och/eller subventionsreformer simuleras för att analysera vilken effekt ekonomiska styrmedel kan ha på matkonsumtion och hälsa. Responsen som de ekonomiska styrmedlen har på matkonsumtionen beräknas med elasticiteter som tagits fram från parameterestimat i AIDS-modellen. Den data som ligger till grund för den ekonometriska modellen är aggregerad konsumtionsdata, konsumentprisindex och livsmedelsförsäljning. Resultatet från studien visar att det går att styra konsumtionen av livsmedel men att substitution mellan varor kan leda till att de hälsomål som reformen är menad att nå inte uppfylls.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent R. Amanor-Boadu / This dissertation is composed of two essays in applied microeconomics. Using farm level data, the first essay applied nonparametric methods to test the adherence of individual farm’s production choices to profit maximization objective. Results indicate that none of the farms consistently satisfy the joint hypothesis of profit maximization. The study took into account the uncertainty prevalent in agricultural production by systematically modeling the optimization behavior of farms. Departures of observed data of individual farms from profit maximization objectives were attributed more due to stochastic influences caused by output production decisions than input use decisions. Results also support the existence of technological progress during the study period for Kansas farms. At an alpha level of 5%, assuming both input and output quantities as stochastic, only 5.3% of the farms violated the joint hypothesis of profit maximization with standard error exceeding 10%. Whereas when only input quantities are considered stochastic, a total of 71.73% and 2.09% of the farms had minimum standard errors of greater than 10% and 20% respectively required for the joint profit maximization hypothesis to hold. When only output quantity measurements were assumed as stochastic, a total of 80.10 % and 18.84 % of the farms had minimum standard errors of greater than 10% and 20% respectively required for the profit maximization hypothesis to hold. The second essay examines the demand for alcoholic beverages (beer, wine and distilled spirits) for the U.S. using time series data from 1979-2006. The estimation is done using an error correction form of the Almost Ideal Demand System . Results indicate that there is a significant difference between short run and long run elasticity estimates. The paper addresses the exogeneity of log of prices and log of real expenditures. For the beer and wine equations, the hypothesis of joint exogeneity of price index and real expenditure cannot be rejected at all the conventional levels of significance. For the spirits equation, the tests strongly reject the simultaneous exogeneity of price index and real expenditure. When independently tested, price index appears to be endogenous variable where as real expenditure seems exogenous variable. Based on these results, the real expenditure was considered as an exogenous variable, where as the price index for spirits as an endogenous variable.

O consumo per capita de pescados no Brasil é relativamente baixo quando comparado com as outras proteínas de origem animais. Do lado da oferta, este fenômeno está relacionado com diversos fatores como, por exemplo, a sobre pesca, a baixa produção nacional, a distância entre centros produtores e consumidores etc. Este trabalho aborda os fatores que estão ligados à sua demanda, tais como: a influência dos preços e da renda da população no seu consumo. Inicialmente, caracterizou-se o problema da oferta de pescados no Brasil. Em seguida, foi feita uma revisão sobre a teoria econômica e o método de cálculo da função e de suas elasticidades para a forma funcional conhecida por Almost Ideal Demand System - AIDS. A partir dos microdados da Pesquisa de Orçamento Familiar - POF 2002-2003, fez-se uma análise descritiva da demanda por pescados no Brasil. Finalmente, foram estimadas as funções demanda e calcularam-se as elasticidades para dois tipos de agrupamentos: um que considerou 5 grupos de proteínas animais e o outro com 7 grupos de alimentos. Estas funções foram estimadas para o Brasil e para duas macro-regiões: Norte-Nordeste e Centro-Sul. Os principais resultados são: o consumo per capita de pescados é baixo porque poucos domicílios consomem pescados. O consumo de pescado da Região Norte-Nordeste é significativamente diferente do padrão observado na Região Centro-Sul do país. Os principais produtos substitutos aos pescados no país são as proteínas mais elaboradas e não as carnes mais tradicionais como a de aves e as vermelhas. Os supermercados são os pontos de vendas mais utilizados pelos consumidores de pescados de renda mais elevada, principalmente na Região Centro-Sul, mas os pequenos estabelecimentos comerciais também possuem grande importância na comercialização de pescados para o consumidor final, principalmente, na Região Norte-Nordeste. / Per capita consumption of fish in Brazil is relatively small as compared to other animal proteins. On the supply side, this phenomenon can be explained by several factors such as: low national fish production, the distance between fish supply regions and the main consumptions centers etc. This study analyses the influence of prices and population income on the demand of fish in Brazil. First, the problem of fish supply in Brazil is characterized. It is followed by reviews of the relevant economic theory and the methods of the function and the elasticity calculations for a functional form known by Almost Ideal Demand System - AIDS. A descriptive analysis of fish demand in Brazil using the microdata called the Familiar Budget Research - POF 2002-2003 is presented. Finally, demand functions and their elasticities are calculated for two different cases: one considering 5 groups of animal proteins and other with 7 groups of food categories. These functions are estimated for Brazil as a whole and two macro-regions: Northnortheast and Center-South. The main results are: per capita consumption of fish is low in Brazil because few households consume fish. The pattern of fish consumption in the North-Northeast Region is different as compared to the Center-South. The main substitutes for fish are the processed proteins and not the traditional types of meat as chicken and red meat. For high income households located mainly in Center-South Region, fish are mainly purchased in supermarkets. However, small commercial establishments are still important in the fish retail market, especially in the North-Northeast.

O consumo per capita de pescados no Brasil é relativamente baixo quando comparado com as outras proteínas de origem animais. Do lado da oferta, este fenômeno está relacionado com diversos fatores como, por exemplo, a sobre pesca, a baixa produção nacional, a distância entre centros produtores e consumidores etc. Este trabalho aborda os fatores que estão ligados à sua demanda, tais como: a influência dos preços e da renda da população no seu consumo. Inicialmente, caracterizou-se o problema da oferta de pescados no Brasil. Em seguida, foi feita uma revisão sobre a teoria econômica e o método de cálculo da função e de suas elasticidades para a forma funcional conhecida por Almost Ideal Demand System - AIDS. A partir dos microdados da Pesquisa de Orçamento Familiar - POF 2002-2003, fez-se uma análise descritiva da demanda por pescados no Brasil. Finalmente, foram estimadas as funções demanda e calcularam-se as elasticidades para dois tipos de agrupamentos: um que considerou 5 grupos de proteínas animais e o outro com 7 grupos de alimentos. Estas funções foram estimadas para o Brasil e para duas macro-regiões: Norte-Nordeste e Centro-Sul. Os principais resultados são: o consumo per capita de pescados é baixo porque poucos domicílios consomem pescados. O consumo de pescado da Região Norte-Nordeste é significativamente diferente do padrão observado na Região Centro-Sul do país. Os principais produtos substitutos aos pescados no país são as proteínas mais elaboradas e não as carnes mais tradicionais como a de aves e as vermelhas. Os supermercados são os pontos de vendas mais utilizados pelos consumidores de pescados de renda mais elevada, principalmente na Região Centro-Sul, mas os pequenos estabelecimentos comerciais também possuem grande importância na comercialização de pescados para o consumidor final, principalmente, na Região Norte-Nordeste. / Per capita consumption of fish in Brazil is relatively small as compared to other animal proteins. On the supply side, this phenomenon can be explained by several factors such as: low national fish production, the distance between fish supply regions and the main consumptions centers etc. This study analyses the influence of prices and population income on the demand of fish in Brazil. First, the problem of fish supply in Brazil is characterized. It is followed by reviews of the relevant economic theory and the methods of the function and the elasticity calculations for a functional form known by Almost Ideal Demand System - AIDS. A descriptive analysis of fish demand in Brazil using the microdata called the Familiar Budget Research - POF 2002-2003 is presented. Finally, demand functions and their elasticities are calculated for two different cases: one considering 5 groups of animal proteins and other with 7 groups of food categories. These functions are estimated for Brazil as a whole and two macro-regions: Northnortheast and Center-South. The main results are: per capita consumption of fish is low in Brazil because few households consume fish. The pattern of fish consumption in the North-Northeast Region is different as compared to the Center-South. The main substitutes for fish are the processed proteins and not the traditional types of meat as chicken and red meat. For high income households located mainly in Center-South Region, fish are mainly purchased in supermarkets. However, small commercial establishments are still important in the fish retail market, especially in the North-Northeast.

The U.S. furniture industry has faced the challenge from increasing imports of furniture from foreign countries over the last decades. In the first part of this thesis, the import pattern of wooden bedroom furniture and the antidumping investigation against China were summarized, and furthermore, intervention analysis was employed to assess its impacts on the import value and unit price of China. The results revealed that the impact on import values was temporary but there was no significant impact on unit prices. The traditional suppliers have been substituted by the newly developing countries such as China and Vietnam. In the second part of this thesis, to explain the market structure change, a dynamic AIDS model was used to analyze the consumer behavior and evaluate the impacts of antidumping investigation on the major competitors in the second part. The results indicated that most imported wooden bedroom furniture can be substituted between suppliers and trade diversion occurred from China to Vietnam, Indonesia, and Brazil.