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The income-elasticity of calories, macro and micro nutrients: What is the literature telling us?

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  • Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano
  • Shabnam, Nadia

Abstract

Food security and nutrition have become central to the policy agendas of governmental and non-governmental organizations due to their consequences on health and economic development. Changes in consumption patterns in response to price and income changes could impact on nutrient intake with related positive or negative consequences. This article aims to systematically review the elasticity of calories, macronutrients and micronutrients to income in developing and developed countries. We consider a large set of estimates on income elasticity for calories, protein, fat, zinc, iron and vitamin A. This is one of the few reviews that examines the estimates for income elasticity of calories, micronutrients, and micronutrients on a comparative basis. Moreover, we investigate the determinants of the heterogeneity in estimates by means of a rigorous and popular approach of meta-analysis. We found a substantial publication bias, and, in particular, we found that the quality of data is very important as it is able to influence estimates.

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  • Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Shabnam, Nadia, 2015. "The income-elasticity of calories, macro and micro nutrients: What is the literature telling us?," MPRA Paper 63754, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:63754
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    Cited by:

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    2. María Priscila Ramos & Estefanía Custodio & Sofía Jiménez & Alfredo J. Mainar-Causapé & Pierre Boulanger & Emanuele Ferrari, 2022. "Do agri-food market incentives improve food security and nutrition indicators? a microsimulation evaluation for Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(1), pages 209-227, February.
    3. Jumrani, Jaya, 2023. "How responsive are nutrients in India? Some recent evidence," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    4. Viscecchia, Rosaria & De Devitiis, Biagia & Carlucci, Domenico & Nardone, Gianluca & Santeramo, Fabio, 2018. "On Consumers' Acceptance of Nanotechnologies: An Italian Case Study," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 9(4), August.
    5. Fabio Gaetano Santeramo & Emilia Lamonaca, 2019. "The Effects of Non‐tariff Measures on Agri‐food Trade: A Review and Meta‐analysis of Empirical Evidence," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(3), pages 595-617, September.
    6. Morais, Joanna & Trinh, Thi-Huong, 2017. "Impact of socioeconomic factors on nutritional diet in Vietnam from 2004 to 2014: new insights using compositional data analysis," TSE Working Papers 17-825, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    7. Nadia Shabnam & Fabio Gaetano Santeramo & Zahid Asghar & Antonio Seccia, 2016. "The Impact of Food Price Crises on the Demand for Nutrients in Pakistan," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 11(3), pages 305-327, December.
    8. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Carlucci, Domenico & De Devitiis, Biagia & Seccia, Antonio & Stasi, Antonio & Viscecchia, Rosaria & Nardone, Gianluca, 2017. "Emerging trends in European food, diets and food industry," MPRA Paper 82105, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Kuhlgatz, Christian H. & Huang, Jiaqi & Antonides, Gerrit & Nie, Fengying, 2018. "The Effect of Food Prices and Own-produced Food on Food Security of Chinese Rural Households," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273988, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Santeramo, Fabio G., 2017. "On Non-Tariff Measures and Changes in Trade Routes: From North-North to South-South Trade?," 2017 International Congress, August 28-September 1, 2017, Parma, Italy 263493, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Lamonaca, Emilia, 2020. "Evaluation of geographical label in consumers’ decision-making process: a systematic review and meta-analysis," MPRA Paper 98004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Trinh Thi, Huong & Simioni, Michel & Thomas-Agnan, Christine, 2018. "Assessing the nonlinearity of the calorie-income relationship: An estimation strategy – With new insights on nutritional transition in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 192-204.
    13. repec:wly:econjl:v::y:2017:i:605:p:f236-f265 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Fabio Gaetano Santeramo & Emilia Lamonaca, 2019. "On the impact of non-tariff measures on trade performances of the African agri-food sector," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(4), pages 389-406, October.
    15. Maricic, Milica & Bulajic, Milica & Dobrota, Marina & Jeremic, Veljko, 2016. "Redesigning The Global Food Security Index: A Multivariate Composite I-Distance Indicator Approach," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(1), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Fabio Gaetano Santeramo & Emilia Lamonaca, 2021. "Food Loss–Food Waste–Food Security: A New Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-7, April.
    17. Ghoddusi, Hamed & Rodivilov, Alexander & Roy, Mandira, 2021. "Income elasticity of demand versus consumption: Implications for energy policy analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    18. Hamidou Jawara & Rainer Thiele, 2021. "The Nutrient-Income Elasticity in Ultra-Poor Households: Evidence from Kenya," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(6), pages 1795-1819, December.
    19. Pemberton, Carlisle & Patterson-Andrews, Hazel & Sormeaux, Afiya De, 2016. "Relative Vulnerability Of Selected Caribbean States To Changes In Food Security Due To Tropical Storms And Hurricanes," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(1), pages 1-12, January.
    20. John P. A. Ioannidis & T. D. Stanley & Hristos Doucouliagos, 2017. "The Power of Bias in Economics Research," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(605), pages 236-265, October.
    21. Chand, Digambar & Gartia, Rajendra, 2016. "Divergence Of Food And Nutritional Security- A Study On Western Odisha," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, January.
    22. Carman, Katherine Grace & Zamarro, Gema, 2016. "Does Financial Literacy Contribute To Food Security?," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, January.
    23. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano, 2016. "Methodological challenges in building composite indexes: Linking theory to practice," MPRA Paper 73276, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Calorie; Food Security; Income Elasticity; Meta-Analysis; Nutrient;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q1 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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