CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN RURAL AREAS OF IRAN: AN ALMOST IDEAL DEMAND SYSTEM ANALYSIS

During the past decade, the consumer price index (CP) has been increasing in the rural areas of Iran. This has led consumers who live in villages to alter the food expenditure share. Changes in consumerʹs behavior have been analyzed by using the linear approximate almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS) which has been recently used by agricultural economists. Eight food groups in form of aggregate commodity groups, over a period of 14 years (1978-91) were applied in this study. The results indicate, Cet. par., with an increase in the price of meat or bread and flour, consumers will use them as substitute for each other.