Household Demand for Finfish: A Generalized Double-Hurdle Model

Abstract

This study estimates household demand for finfish in the United States using a limited dependent variable model that accounts for both participation and consumption decisions and also accommodates nonnormal heteroskedastic errors. Results suggest that own-price elasticity is near unitary and income elasticity is small. Price of finfish, shopping frequency, Northeast, Black and other non-Whites, and the life-cycle variable "young, single, no children" are they key factors that affect significantly both the probability of participation and the level of finfish consumption. Furthermore, a variable may exert opposite effects on the probability and level of consumption.

Keywords

• double-hurdle model
• finfish
• heteroskedasticity
• inverse hyperbolic sine transformation