TITLE:
Estimating the Domestic Demand for Saudi Citrus Using an Almost Ideal Demand Model in Light of Corona Pandemic
AUTHORS:
Abeer A. Kinawy, Amal S. Alaliol, Ibrahim A. Abdelfatah
KEYWORDS:
Semi-Optimal Demand Model, Saudi Arabia, Orange, Lemon, Tangerine
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.2,
February
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: The world has recently experienced major challenges in all respects in
general, and in economic in particular following the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
This has led people to improve their diet by consuming more vitamin-rich food
commodities, especially vitamin C, because of its important effect in promoting
body immunity and resistance for many diseases and cold diseases. The study
relied on secondary data (time series) during the period (2001-2020), collected
from various sources. The study estimated the demand function and the different
factors affecting demand. The near-optimal demand model in the Saudi market is
the models used in the study by analyzing commodity demand equations system
according to their variety or sources. The research examined the application of
this model in the study of domestic demand for the most important commodities
consumed in Saudi Arabia (orange-lemon-tangerines). The results show that the
suggested model obtained conditions of the application function, which are
addition, homogeneity, symmetry, price, cross demand and expenditure
elasticities. It is noted that the own-price demand elasticity was negative,
and less than the correct one for lemons, which indicated that it was a
necessary commodity. The demand for both oranges and tangerines turned out to
be elastic. It also turns out that there is a direct relationship between lemon
prices and spending on lemons and tangerines. There is an inverse relationship
between the price of both lemons and spending on oranges. It also noted that
the indicative of spending elasticity for both oranges and lemons was positive.