Cigarette Consumption by U.S. Men

Health Economics and Policy,

ESTIMATING DEMAND FOR CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL WITH ZERO OBSERVATIONS:

Consumption of cigarettes, beer and wine by individuals is investigated, using a multivariate sample selection model. Empirical results suggest that the proposed model performs better than the restricted specifications. Gender differences are also present.Demand and Price Analysis,

On the Convergence of Lacunary Walsh-Fourier Series

We study the Walsh-Fourier series of S_{n_j}f, along a lacunary subsequence of integers {n_j}. Under a suitable integrability condition, we show that the sequence converges to f a.e. Integral condition is only slightly larger than what the sharp integrability condition would be, by a result of Konyagin. The condition is: f is in L loglog L (logloglog L). The method of proof uses four ingredients, (1) analysis on the Walsh Phase Plane, (2) the new multi-frequency Calderon-Zygmund Decomposition of Nazarov-Oberlin-Thiele, (3) a classical inequality of Zygmund, giving an improvement in the Hausdorff-Young inequality for lacunary subsequences of integers, and (4) the extrapolation method of Carro-Martin, which generalizes the work of Antonov and Arias-de-Reyna.Comment: 18 pages. v2: Several typos corrected. Final version of the paper, accepted to LM

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Nutrient Intakes

The socioeconomic determinants of Food Stamp Program participation and the effects of program participation on nutrient intakes are investigated, using data from the 2003–04 and 2005–06 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). An endogenous switching regression system of equations is estimated, which includes protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron. Participation in the FSP is found to play an important role in nutrient intakes. Socio-demographic variables such as income, household size and presence of children are also found to affect individuals’ decisions on program participation and nutrient intakes.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

A SAMPLE SELECTION APPROACH TO CENSORED DEMAND SYSTEMS

A censored demand system estimator is proposed by extending the sample selection model of Heckman. Censoring is governed by a selection mechanism which avoids the restricitve Tobit parameterization. Results of application to household consumption of beverages suggest the estimator produces slightly different elasticity estimates from the Tobit estimator. Demands for beverages are nearly unitary elastic, and net substitution is an obvious pattern.beverages, censoring, sample selection, Translog demand system, Demand and Price Analysis,

ESTIMATION OF A DEMAND SYSTEM WITH LIMITED DEPENDENT VARIABLES

The study employs the full-information maximum-likelihood method to estimate a censored translog demand system. U.S. household consumption of steak, roast, and ground beef are used to demonstrate the application of the estimation procedure. The proposed methodology produces more efficient estimates than the popular two-step procedures found in demand literature.Demand and Price Analysis,

Fruit and vegetable consumption in Malaysia: a count system approach

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

HOUSEHOLD DEMAND FOR FINFISH: A GENERALIZED DOUBLE-HURDLE MODEL

This study estimates household demand for finfish in the United States using a limited dependent variable model that accounts for both participation and consumption decisions and also accommodates nonnormal heteroskedastic errors. Results suggest that own-price elasticity is near unitary and income elasticity is small. Price of finfish, shopping frequency, Northeast, Black and other non-Whites, and the life-cycle variable “"young, single, no children”" are they key factors that affect significantly both the probability of participation and the level of finfish consumption. Furthermore, a variable may exert opposite effects on the probability and level of consumption.Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

Household food expenditures in the United States: A Bayesian MCMC approach to censored equation systems

We apply a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique, along with data augmentation to accommodate censoring in the dependent variables, to the estimation of a large expenditure system of food expenditures. Our finding of significant error covariance estimates justifies estimation of the system in improving statistical efficiency. Income, household composition, regions and other socio-demographic variables are found to play significant roles in determining household food expenditures.Bayesian MCMC, Censored equation system, Consumer Expenditure Survey, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, C11, C34, D12, C11, C34, D12,