Elasticities of Demand for Food: An Analysis Using Non-Additive Utility Functions Allowing for Habit Formation

The purpose of this paper is to assess the roles of habit formation and of responsiveness to price and expenditure changes in explaining U.S. consumption of four major types of food: meats, produce, cereal and bakery products, and miscellaneous foods. Substitution possibilities among these food types are considered. Estimates of expenditure and own-price elasticities of demand are also obtained.