The Power of Non-parametric Demand Analysis When Applied to British Meat and Fish Consumption Data.

It is possible to estimate the power of non-parametric demand analysis when applied to a particular data set using the budget hyperplanes and alternative definitions of irrational behaviour. The paper has two objectives: to identify the number of drawings needed, and to calculate the power statistic, under four alternative irrationality models, for five British meat and fish data sets that have been used elsewhere for parametric and non-parametric analysis. The mean and variance of the estimated power statistics indicate that at least 1000 drawings have to be made if an accurate figure for the power statistic is to be obtained. This is larger than that used in earlier work. The estimated power statistics also throw some light on earlier empirical results obtained using these data sets. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.