Keywords
price elasticity
consumption patterns
food security
poverty elasticidad ingreso
elasticidad precio
patrones de consumo
seguridad alimentaria
pobreza
How to Cite
Abstract
This study examines food consumption patterns in Costa Rica by estimating the income and price elasticities of food products among vulnerable households. Using data from the Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares for 2004, 2013, and 2018, it applies a DLQ equation model with Cragg’s method to address zero expenditures. Unlike previous studies, which have primarily focused on broader economic sectors, this research provides a product-level analysis while also examining changes over time and emphasizing low-income households. The findings reveal that most food products are perfectly inelastic in both income and price, indicating that vulnerable households do not adjust their food consumption despite economic fluctuations. As a result, they absorb the impact of rising prices or declining incomes, at the expense of other essential goods and services. These rigid consumption patterns highlight structural economic constraints and reinforce the need for policies that mitigate the adverse effects of economic shocks on food security and poverty reduction.
References
Andreyeva, T., Long, M. & Brownwell, K. (2011). The impact of food prices on consumption: A systematic review of research on the price elasticity of demand for food. Am J Public Health, 100(2), 216-222. https://doi.org/ 10.2105/AJPH.2008.151415
Attanasio, O. & Mesnard, A. (2006). The Impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer Programme on Consumption in Colombia. Fiscal Studies, 27(4), 421-442. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2006.00041.x
Banks, J., Blundell, R. & Lewbel, A. (1997). Quadratic Engel Curves and consumer demand. The Review of Economics Statistics, 79(4), 527-539.
Blakely, T., Clighorn, C., Mizdrak, A., Waterlander, W., Nghiem, N., Swinburn, B., Wilson, N. & Ni Mhurchu, C. (2020). The effect of food taxes and subsidies on population health and health costs: a modelling study. The Lancet Public Health, 5(7), 404-4013. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30116-X
Bouyssou, C. G., Jensen, J. D., & Yu, W. (2024). Food for thought: A meta-analysis of animal food demand elasticities across world regions. Food Policy, 122, 102581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102581
Clements, K. W., & Si, J. (2015). Price elasticities of food demand: Compensated vs uncompensated. Health Economics, 24(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3226
Cornelsen, L., Green, R., Turner, R., Dangour, A. D., Shankar, B., Mazzocchi, M., & Smith, R. D. (2014). What happens to patterns of food consumption when food prices change? Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis of food price elasticities globally. Health Economics, 23(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3107
Dal, E., Rivera, R., Morales, C. & Madrigal, M. (2022). Fiscal Reform in Costa Rica: Price Elasticities of Major Food Categories to Inform Decision-Making. Front. Nutr, 9(836501), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.836501
Deaton, A. (1988). The analysis of Household Surveys: A micro econometric approach to development policy. John Hopkins University press
Deaton, A., & Muellbauer, J. (1980). An almost ideal demand system. The American Economic Review, 70(3), 312-326.
Elizondo, A., Vargas, J. & Xirinachs, Y. (2006). Análisis económico de la estructura del gasto en los hogares costarricenses. Simposio Costa Rica a la luz de la ENIG 2004. Costa Rica.
Engel, J. & Kneip, A. (1996). Recent approaches to estimating Engel curves. Journal of Economics, 63(2), 187–212. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01258672
Femenia, F. (2019). A meta-analysis of the price and income elasticities of food demand. German Journal of Agricultural Economics, 68(2), 77-98. https://doi.org/10.15454/JM5PEF
Fields, W. (2015). Understanding the inflation tax. International Research Journal of Applied Finance, 6(10), 649-657.
Forgenie, D., Khoiriyah, N., & Elban, E. F. (2023). Estimating household price and income elasticities for animal derived sources of food using the QUAIDS model: the case of Jakarta, Indonesia. Tropical Agriculture, 100(4), 317-328. https://doi.org/10.37234/
Geurts, J. (1994). Inter household allocation of food: a case study for Costa Rica [Thesis]. Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, Netherlands.
Geurts, J., Jansen, H. & Van Tilburg, A. (1997). Domestic Demand for Food in Costa Rica: a double-hurdle analysis. Centro Agrónomo Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, Turrialba, Costa Rica.
Guerrero, C., Unar, M. & Colchero, M. (2017). Price elasticity of the demand for soft drinks, other sugar-sweetened beverages and energy dense food in Chile. BMC Public Health, 17(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4098-x
Guisan, M., & Exposito, P. (2010). Health expenditure, education, government effectiveness and quality of life in Africa and Asia. Regional and sectoral Economic studies, 10(1), 115-126. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46529944_Health_Expenditure_Education_Government_Effectiveness_and_Quality_of_Life_in_Africa_and_Asia
Hidrobo, M., Peterman, A., & Heise, L. (2016). The Effect of Cash, Vouchers, and Food Transfers on Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Northern Ecuador. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8(3), 284-303.
https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20150048
Hoddinott, J., & Wiesmann, D. (2008). The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs on Food Consumption in Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Cornell University. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1269417
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (2022). Índice de precios al consumidor agosto 2022: base diciembre 2020. https://admin.inec.cr/sites/default/files/media/reeconomipc082022-08.pdf
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (2019). Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares 2018: Resultados generales. https://www.inec.go.cr/sites/default/files/documetos-biblioteca-virtual/reenigh2018v2.pdf
Khoiriyah, N., Forgenie, D., Iriany, A., & Apriliawan, H. (2023). Assessing the Welfare Effects of Rising Prices of Animal-Derived Sources of Food on Urban Households in Indonesia. Economics and Business Quarterly Reviews, 6(1), 165-178. https://doi.org/10.31014/aior.1992.06.01.495
Khoiriyah, N., Forgenie, D., & Iriany, A. (2023). Estimating Household Price and Income Elasticities for Animal-Sourced Food: The Case of Bengkulu Province, Indonesia. Agris on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, 15(3), 73-85. https://doi.org/10.7160/aol.2023.150307
Klein, L. & Rubin, H. (1947). Constant-Utility Index of the Cost of Living. The Review of Economic Studies, 15(2), 1947, 84–87, https://doi.org/10.2307/2295996
Kumar, P., Kumar, A. Parappurathu, S. & Raju, S. (2011). Estimation of Demand Elasticity for Food Commodities in India. Agricultural Economics Research Review, 24(1), 1-14.
Lizano, E. (1994). The impact of policy reform on food consumption in Costa Rica. Tesis, Tufts University, United States.
Meyer, S., Yu, X., & Abler, D. G. (2011). Comparison of several demand systems (Annual Meeting, DP No. 103736). Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.103736
Morales-Ruán, Ma. del Carmen, Shamah-Levy, Teresa, Mundo-Rosas, Verónica, Cuevas-Nasu, Lucía, Romero-Martínez, Martín, Villalpando, Salvador, & Rivera-Dommarco, Juan Ángel. (2013). Programas de ayuda alimentaria en México, cobertura y focalización. Salud Pública de México, 55(2), 199-205. http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-36342013000800017&lng=es&tlng=es.
Moreira, R., Galastri, L., Bortoletto, A., Bandoni, D. & Levy, R. (2014). Trends in spending on eating away from home in Brazil, 2002-2003 to 2008-2009. Cadernos de saude publica, 30(70), 1418-1426. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00176113.
Mundo-Rosas, Verónica, Vizuet-Vega, Norma Isela, Martínez-Domínguez, Jesús, Morales-Ruán, M del Carmen, Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael, & Shamah-Levy, Teresa. (2018). Evolución de la inseguridad alimentaria en los hogares mexicanos: 2012-2016. Salud Pública de México, 60(3), 309-318. https://doi.org/10.21149/8809
Powell, L. M., & Chaloupka, F. J. (2009). Food prices and obesity: evidence and policy implications for taxes and subsidies. The Milbank quarterly, 87(1), 229–257. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00554.x
Sadoulet, E. & de Janvry, A. (1995). Quantitative Development Policy Analysis. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, U.S.A.
Sidaner, E., Balaban, D., & Burlandy, L. (2013). The Brazilian School Feeding Programme: An Example of an Integrated Programme in Support of Food and Nutrition Security. Public Health Nutrition, 16(6), 989-994. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980012005101
Skoufias, E., Tiwari, S. & Zaman, H. (2015). Crises, food prices, and the income elasticity of micronutrients: estimates from Indonesia. The World Bank Economic Review, 26(3), 415–442. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhr054
Soares, F. V., Ribas, R. P., & Osório, R. G. (2010). Evaluating the Impact of Brazil's Bolsa Família: Cash Transfer Programs in Comparative Perspective. Latin American Research Review, 45(2), 173-190. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27919200
Stone, R. (1954) Linear Expenditure Systems and Demand Analysis: An Application to the Pattern of British Demand. The Economic Journal, 64, 511-527. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2227743
Vargas, A., Cicatiello, C., Principato, L. & Secondi, L. (2021). Consumer expenditure, elasticity and value of food waste: a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System for evaluating changes in Mexico during COVID-19. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101065
Vargas, J. & Elizondo, A. (2015). Estimación de la Elasticidad precio e ingreso para alimentos: revisión a partir de los datos de la ENIGH 2013. En Simposio ENIGH 2013. San José, Costa Rica.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Erick Enrique Sequeira Benavides, Juan Rafael Vargas Brenes, Yanira Xirinachs Salazar