Demand for Environmental Quality: An Empirical Analysis of Consumer Behavior in Sweden

Tarek Ghalwash ()

No 676, Umeå Economic Studies from Umeå University, Department of Economics

Abstract: In this paper we estimate the income elasticity of demand for recreational services and

other traditional groups of goods in Sweden and test for potential changes in such

estimates over the twentieth century. Due to the difficulty of directly observing the

demand for recreational services, we employ an indirect methodology by using the

demand for some outdoor goods as a proxy for the demand for recreational services. In

line with most prior research, our results confirm the expectation that recreational

services, as a public good, is a luxury good in Sweden. Our results also show that the

income elasticities for traditional goods are stable over time, indicating that consumer

preferences for expenditure on these specific commodities do not change over time.

Keywords: Household demand; environmental services; income elasticities; Engel curves (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 H41 Q26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-env, nep-his, nep-mic, nep-pbe, nep-res and nep-tur
Date: Written 2006-05-05
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