IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v85y2025icp754-767.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modelling the alcohol consumption patterns of australian households

Author

Listed:
  • Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A
  • Jayasinghe, Maneka
  • Selvanathan, Saroja

Abstract

Consumers allocate their budget in two stages. Firstly to broad commodity groups and then the group budget to commodities within each group. Conditional demand analysis provides in-depth insights on the second stage budget allocation. Using the Conditional Generalised Working's Model, we analyse the Australian alcohol demand at two stages, namely total alcohol and alcohol sub-groups: beer, wine, spirits and others using the latest ABS HES 2015–2016 data. The results show that there are noticeable differences in Australian alcohol consumption patterns at the disaggregated level by states, household location, income groups, gender and age. In general, beer and spirits are luxuries while wine and others are necessities.

Suggested Citation

  • Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A & Jayasinghe, Maneka & Selvanathan, Saroja, 2025. "Modelling the alcohol consumption patterns of australian households," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 754-767.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:85:y:2025:i:c:p:754-767
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2024.12.038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S031359262400376X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2024.12.038?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexander J. Holmes & Kym Anderson, 2019. "Convergence in National Alcohol Consumption Patterns: New Global Indicators," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Kym Anderson (ed.), The International Economics of Wine, chapter 25, pages 631-670, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Clements, Kenneth W & Johnson, Lester W, 1983. "The Demand for Beer, Wine, and Spirits: A Systemwide Analysis," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 273-304, July.
    4. Kenneth Clements & Wana Yang & Simon Zheng, 1997. "Is utility additive? The case of alcohol," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(9), pages 1163-1167.
    5. Smith, Murray D. & Clements, Kenneth W., 1984. "Estimates of the generalized working model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-2), pages 171-175.
    6. Ou Yang & Xueyan Zhao & Preety Srivastava, 2016. "Binge Drinking and Antisocial and Unlawful Behaviours in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(297), pages 222-240, June.
    7. Saroja Selvanathan & Eliyathamby Selvanathan, 2007. "Another look at the identical tastes hypothesis on the analysis of cross-country alcohol data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 185-215, April.
    8. Maneka Jayasinghe & Eliyathamby A. Selvanathan & Saroja Selvanathan, 2019. "An intertemporal analysis of expenditure elasticities under three expenditure specifications for Sri Lanka," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(59), pages 6376-6392, December.
    9. S. Selvanathan & E. A. Selvanathan, 2006. "Consumption patterns of food, tobacco and beverages: a cross-country analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(13), pages 1567-1584.
    10. Clements, Kenneth W. & Mariano, Marc Jim M. & Verikios, George & Wong, Berwyn, 2022. "How elastic is alcohol consumption?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 568-581.
    11. Kenneth W. Clements & E. Antony Selvanathan, 1988. "The Rotterdam Demand Model and its Application in Marketing," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(1), pages 60-75.
    12. Kenneth W. Clements & Saroja Selvanathan, 1991. "The Economic Determinants Of Alcohol Consumption," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 35(2), pages 209-231, August.
    13. Kenneth W Clements & Jiawei Si, 2018. "Engel’s Law, Diet Diversity, and the Quality of Food Consumption," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(1), pages 1-22.
    14. S. Selvanathan & E.A. Selvanathan, 2005. "Empirical Regularities in Cross‐Country Alcohol Consumption," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(s1), pages 128-142, August.
    15. Preety Srivastava & Xueyan Zhao, 2010. "What Do the Bingers Drink? Micro‐Unit Evidence on Negative Externalities and Drinker Characteristics of Alcohol Consumption by Beverage Types," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 29(2), pages 229-250, June.
    16. Anderson, Kym, 2020. "Consumer Taxes on Alcohol: An International Comparison over Time," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 42-70, February.
    17. Battistin, Erich & De Nadai, Michele & Krishnan, Nandini, 2023. "The insights and illusions of consumption measurements," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    18. Madden, David, 2008. "Sample selection versus two-part models revisited: The case of female smoking and drinking," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 300-307, March.
    19. Laitinen, Kenneth & Theil, Henri & Raparla, Tejaswi, 1983. "A generalization of working's model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 97-100.
    20. Nelson, Jon P., 2013. "Robust Demand Elasticities for Wine and Distilled Spirits: Meta-Analysis with Corrections for Outliers and Publication Bias," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 294-317, December.
    21. Bentzen, J. & Smith, V. & Nannerup, N., 1997. "Alcohol Consumption and Drunken Driving in the Scandinavian Countries," Papers 97-1, Aarhus School of Business - Department of Economics.
    22. James Fogarty, 2010. "The Demand For Beer, Wine And Spirits: A Survey Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 428-478, July.
    23. Anurag Sharma & Brian Vandenberg & Bruce Hollingsworth, 2014. "Minimum Pricing of Alcohol versus Volumetric Taxation: Which Policy Will Reduce Heavy Consumption without Adversely Affecting Light and Moderate Consumers?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, January.
    24. Selvanathan, Saroja & Selvanathan, E.A. & Jayasinghe, Maneka, 2021. "A new approach to analyse conditional demand: An application to Australian energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    25. Steven T. Yen & Helen H. Jensen, 1995. "Determinants of Household Expenditures on Alcohol," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 95-wp144, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    26. Chang, Hui-Shung & Griffith, Garry & Bettington, Nicholas, 2002. "The Demand for Wine in Australia Using a Systems Approach: Industry Implications," Australasian Agribusiness Review, University of Melbourne, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, vol. 10, pages 1-12, September.
    27. Clements, Kenneth W. & Goldschmidt, Peter S. & Theil, Henri, 1985. "A conditional version of working's model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 97-99.
    28. E.A. Selvanathan, 1991. "A Cross-Country Alcohol Consumption Comparison: An application of the Rotterdam demand system," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 91-04, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    29. S. Rajapakse, 2011. "Estimation of a complete system of nonlinear Engel curves: further evidence from Box-Cox Engel curves for Sri Lanka," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 371-385.
    30. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-326, June.
    31. Joshua Byrnes & Anthony Shakeshaft & Dennis Petrie & Christopher Doran, 2016. "Is response to price equal for those with higher alcohol consumption?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(1), pages 23-29, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kenneth W. Clements & Yihui Lan & Haiyan Liu, 2020. "Understanding alcohol consumption across countries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(40), pages 4421-4439, August.
    2. James Fogarty, 2010. "The Demand For Beer, Wine And Spirits: A Survey Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 428-478, July.
    3. Clements, Kenneth W. & Mariano, Marc Jim M. & Verikios, George & Wong, Berwyn, 2022. "How elastic is alcohol consumption?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 568-581.
    4. Selvanathan, Saroja & Selvanathan, E.A. & Jayasinghe, Maneka, 2021. "A new approach to analyse conditional demand: An application to Australian energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    5. Liesbeth Colen & Johan Swinnen, 2016. "Economic Growth, Globalisation and Beer Consumption," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 186-207, February.
    6. Adrian R. Fleissig, 2016. "Changing Trends in U.S. Alcohol Demand," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 44(3), pages 263-276, September.
    7. Preety Srivastava & Keith R. McLaren & Michael Wohlgenant & Xueyan Zhao, 2014. "Econometric Modelling of Price Response by Alcohol Types to Inform Alcohol Tax Policies," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 5/14, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
    8. Kenneth W. Clements & Saroja Selvanathan, 1991. "The Economic Determinants Of Alcohol Consumption," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 35(2), pages 209-231, August.
    9. Lara Agnoli & J. François Outreville, 2021. "Wine Consumption and Culture: A Cross‐Country Analysis," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 1101-1124, September.
    10. E. A. Selvanathan & S. Selvanathan, 2004. "Economic and demographic factors in Australian alcohol demand," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(21), pages 2405-2417.
    11. Benjamin Volland, 2013. "The History of an Inferior Good: Beer Consumption in Germany," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2012-19, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    12. Kenneth W Clements & Yihui Lan & Haiyan Liu & Long Vo, 2022. "The Icp, Ppp And Household Expenditure Patterns," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-18, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    13. S. Selvanathan & E.A. Selvanathan, 2005. "Empirical Regularities in Cross‐Country Alcohol Consumption," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(s1), pages 128-142, August.
    14. Anderson, Kym, 2020. "Consumer Taxes on Alcohol: An International Comparison over Time," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 42-70, February.
    15. Clements, Kenneth W. & Gao, Grace, 2015. "The Rotterdam demand model half a century on," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 91-103.
    16. Joshua Byrnes & Dennis Petrie & Christopher Doran & Anthony Shakeshaft, 2012. "The efficiency of a volumetric alcohol tax in Australia," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 37-49, January.
    17. E.J. Roberts, 1990. "The Demand for Meat: Part III," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 90-13, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    18. Anurag Sharma & Brian Vandenberg, 2019. "Heterogenous wealth effects of minimum unit price on purchase of alcohol: Evidence using scanner data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-16, December.
    19. Tanja Laković & Ana Mugoša & Mirjana Čizmović & Gordana Radojević, 2019. "Impact of Taxation Policy on Household Spirit Consumption and Public-Finance Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-15, October.
    20. Rathnayaka, Shashika D. & Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A. & Selvanathan, Saroja, 2022. "Modelling the consumption patterns in the Asian countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 277-296.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:85:y:2025:i:c:p:754-767. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.