Demand for food in Ireland 1947-1973

Abstract

This paper attempts to extend the work of Casey on the demand for food in Ireland by investigating the validity of his method and by using more refined techniques of computation and the more extensive data now available. It is found that Casey's method introduces some (but not much) avoidable inaccuracy. The pattern of the income elasticities calculated here is similar to the earlier results but it would seem that the more modern maximum likelihood technique produces values with a wider spread. The price elasticities are also quite similar; in particular the same five goods have positive elasticities. This, however, may be induced by the form of the system used.