The Influence of Price on Supply and Demand for Meats in Greece

Analysis of slaughter data leads to substantial intermediate supply elasticities with respect to price for mutton and lamb, goat and k1dmeat, and beef and veal, due mainly to mcreased fmishmg of younger ammals to heavterweights. Long-term elasticities are m the range of 0.65 to 2.00, 1.36 to 1.78, and -0.97 to 3.44, respectively Forp1gmeat and poultrymeat, those long-run supply responses can be regarded as virtually unbounded in the positive direct10n. Analysis of milking animals and milk produced leads to somewhat mcons1stent results for ewes and goat does-numbers milked appear to respond positively to meat pnces and negatively to milk pnces. The supply elasticity for number of covvs milked, however, appears to be substantial and positive. Demand analysts, subject to many stochastic prior restraints across the four classes of meat, leads to adverse trends against agnate meats and positive trends for other meats. Substantial positive income elastic1ties are estimated for all meats. The pnce-demand matrix is consistent and orthodox except for an asymmetric tendency.