products. Meat has a substitute relationship with most of fish products and is statistically
significant at the 5 percent significance level, indicating that the consumption of meat products is
influenced by prices of fish products. However, fish products do not have a good substitute
relationship with meat products, indicating that the consumption of fish is not generally sensitive
to prices of meat products.
In the case of Hanwoo beef, the own-price elasticity is larger than the expenditure
elasticity in terms of absolute value (εH =-1.1515 > ηH =1.1463), while the opposite is true for
imported beef (εI =-0.8987 < ηI =2.2622). If price and income (expenditure for meat and fish
products) change at the same time, Hanwoo beef consumption would be more affected by price
than income. However, the consumption of imported beef is more sensitive to income than price
of imported beef. Consumers buy imported beef when they cannot afford Hanwoo beef. This is
the reason why consumers are sensitive to prices of Hanwoo beef than imported beef. Imported
beef is generally consumed by a consumer group with lower income, while Hanwoo beef is
consumed by a higher income group.
Summary and Conclusions
The LA/AIDS was estimated using quarterly data for the 1980-98 period. To evaluate
seasonal effects on meat and fish product consumption with quarterly data, seasonal dummy
variables were included in each equation. The consumption of Hanwoo beef and imported beef
increases in the spring and fall and decreases during the winter. Pork consumption increases in
the winter, but it is not statistically significant. Chicken consumption increases during the
summer and fall. The consumption of fish products is the greatest in winter.
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