A Box-Cox consumer demand system nesting the almost ideal model

Abstract

This article proposes a consumer demand system that has a generalized functional form characterized by the Box-Cox transformation. The new model offers a wider range of responses to both price and expenditure changes than the existing price independent generalized linear models, including the almost ideal demand system. Even with these features, its functional form is relatively simple and easy to interpret and implement. An empirical illustration is given for Japanese demand for nondurable goods and services. The results show that the new model is preferable to the nested models in terms of relative explanatory power and producing reasonable elasticities.