A fresh look at calorie-income elasticities in China
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use data from the 1991 to 2009 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) to analyze how income in China is related to calorie intake.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a variety of parametric, nonparametric, and semiparametric methods for cross-sectional and panel data, and estimates calorie-income elasticities for adults aged 18-60.
Findings
The calorie-income elasticities are generally small, ranging from −0.031 to 0.022. In addition, the results show no clear nonlinearity, regardless of whether parametric, nonparametric, or semiparametric approaches are used.
Originality/value
Using a wealth of estimation techniques, including parametric, nonparametric, and semiparametric approaches, this paper addresses some of the main methodological challenges encountered in estimating calorie-income elasticities. The magnitudes of calorie-income elasticities have policy implications especially with regards to the effectiveness of income-mediated policies aimed at combating food insecurity in China.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
JEL Classification — C14, D12, O12
This paper was presented at the 2014 Conference on “China after 35 Years of Economic Transition” in London. The authors would also like to thank the participants and two anonymous referees for valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper. This research uses data from China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). The authors thank the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Carolina Population Center, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the NIH (R01-HD30880, DK056350, and R01-HD38700) and the Fogarty International Center, NIH for financial support for the CHNS data collection and analysis files since 1989 and both parties plus the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Ministry of Health for support for CHNS 2009. The study is an output of a scholarship from the Food Security Center from the University of Hohenheim, which is part of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) program “exceed” and is supported by DAAD and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and in cooperation with Department of Household and Consumer Economics, Institute for Health Care & Public Management, the University of Hohenheim. The usual disclaimer applies.
Citation
Nie, P. and Sousa-Poza, A. (2016), "A fresh look at calorie-income elasticities in China", China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 55-80. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-09-2014-0095
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
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