Household food demand analysis in India

Price and expenditure elasticities and estimates of the effect of household demographic variables on Indian food items are estimated using a recent ho usehold survey data in rural and urban areas. Using a linear approximate al most ideal demand system (LA/AIDS), the results indicate that for commodity groups (milk and milk products; cereals and pulses; edible oils; meat, fis h, and eggs; vegetables and fruits; other foods) demand is elastic only for milk and milk products in both rural and urban areas of India. The impact of demographic variables such as region, household size, education level of household head, and seasonality, was generally significant.