Journal #J-03/2003
Effects of health information on Nordic meat and fish demand
Kyrre Rickertsen(1), Daði Már Kristófersson & Solveig Lothe(1)
Department of Economics & Social Sciences Agricultural University of Norway PO Box 5033, N-1432 Ås, Norway http://www.nlh.no/ior/ e-mail: kyrre.rickertsen@ior.nlh.no

(1) Kyrre Rickertsen has a joint appointment with the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute

(2) Solveig Lothe, Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Management e-mail: solveig.lothe@bi.no

Rickertsen, K., D. Kristófersson & S. Lothe (2003): "Effects of health information on Nordic meat and fish demand", Empirical Economics, 28:249-273.

Abstract:
Increasing public concerns about health risks associated with dietary intakes of cholesterol are expected to have significant impacts on the demand for foods with high fat content. This paper investigates how information about cholesterol, as measured by two newly constructed indices based on published medical research, has aÏected the demand for meats (beef, chicken and pork) and fish in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). To compare the effects of information across countries and over time, the demand equations for all the countries are estimated within one system, and a complete set of price and expenditure elasticities is estimated. Our findings suggest that health information has affected consumption in a healthy way in all countries studied except for Denmark. We find positive effects on the demand for chicken in Finland, Norway and Sweden and for fish in Finland and Sweden. A negative effect on the demand for beef in Sweden also is found.

Key words: Cholesterol, demand analysis, meats, health information, Nordic countries.

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