Emerging food demand behaviors in Malaysia: Incorporating quality effects in demand analyses

In this study, the focus is on analyzing food demand behaviors in Malaysia. To be more specific, this study intends to estimate demand elasticities for twelve food categories with incorporation of food quality effects in the demand analyses. This study analyses the data from the Household Expenditure Survey 2004/2005 by Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS) and unit value function. The estimated expenditure elasticities indicate that there will be growing demand for all the food categories, especially meat, fish, vegetables, oils and fats, and fruits. The own-price elasticities for rice, eggs, beverage, and oils & fats are more elastic than the rest of the food categories. This study also shows that there is quality effect in food demand.