IMPORT DEMAND FOR MALT: A TIMES SERIES AND ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS

European Union (EU) dominance of the world malt trade is thought to be due to quality advantages and/or due to export restitutions. A Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS) was estimated for four major malt importing countries: Japan, Brazil, Philippines, and Venezuela. Elasticities of substitution for malt among different sources were computed. Results show that malt imported from the EU is least substitutable with malt from other sources, and demand for EU malt is less responsive to changes in price. Expenditure elasticities indicate that the four importers spend proportionately more on malt imports from the EU compared to malt from other sources. For these reasons, the study concludes that price subsidy-based export expansion measures for non-EU malt may have limited effects.