Socio-economic characteristics and the effect of taxation as a health policy instrument

This paper analyses the quantitative effects of using economic instruments in health policy on the basis of price elasticities calculated from estimated demand systems. The nutritional effects of various taxation schemes are compared for households in different age groups and social classes. Focusing on the consumption of saturated fats, fibre and sugar; it is generally found that the impact of price instruments is stronger for lower social classes than in other groups of the population. With regard to age groups, it is mostly the youngest that decrease their demand for saturated fat in response to price changes, while it is mostly the middle-aged who exhibit price responsiveness in their demand for sugar. These groups are however not considered as key target groups for dietary regulation; thus tax instruments may be effective in improving diets on average, but the design of the instruments and the targeting of vulnerable groups with special needs should be done with care. It should be noted that a tax on a single nutrient or food may have undesired effects on the demand for other food components, though this may be avoided by introducing taxes/subsidies on several food products simultaneously.     

Effects of Household Consumption Patterns on CO2 Requirements

In order to evaluate the relation between the consumption pattern of various household types and their CO₂ requirements, we combine input-output tables energy flow matrices, CO₂ emissions factors, and national consumer survey statistics into an integrated modelling framework, and relate differences in household types to differences in private consumption and again to differences in CO₂ emissions. We identify household characteristics with a significant influence on CO₂ emissions. Comparing our results with those of other studies reveals that national differences in climate and population density cause differences in the contribution to CO₂ emissions. Finally, national differences in income and expenditure elasticities of both energy and CO₂ are due to differences in the disparity in CO₂ intensities amongst commodities and to the model's assumptions on foreign technology.     

Information and consumer perception of the “organic” attribute in fresh fruits and vegetables

Using a double hurdle model on panel data from 3,200 Danish households (monthly observations for 2002–2007), we study the effects of health‐related media information on the demand for organic fruit and vegetables. We find that “negative” information about pesticides contained in conventional fruit and vegetables mainly influences the probability of a consumer entering the organic market, not the quantities consumed by households that are already active on the organic market. “Positive” information that links health and the consumption of organic food influences both steps of the decision process. Our dataset includes information about consumers’ media habits, which allows us to disentangle the direct effects of media information from the indirect effects of this information as it is disseminated through the population. Our results suggest that directly obtained information is the main type of information influencing consumers, while information loadings by dissemination through the population have almost no effect on consumption.     

What is it consumers really want, and how can their preferences be influenced? The case of fat in milk

In this paper we investigate preferences for fat in milk through a structural characteristics model. The data includes information about daily purchases and social and demographic characteristics of more than 1,100 households. We find that consumers who prefer milk with a high fat content do not react to information about health effects, but can be influenced by prices, while consumers who prefer milk with a low share of fat are influenced by information, but are less price sensitive. Therefore, when attempting to decrease consumption of fat from milk, prices are more efficient than information.