Consumer demand for beef in the E. E. C.

Abstract

Recent measures to increase beef production in New Zealand have directed interest towards potential markets. An O.E.C.D. study predicts that the area with the second largest net requirement for beef by 1985 will be the E.E.C. countries (The United States has the largest requirement) with net imports of 970,000 metric tons. This is a very large quantity of beef - about triple New Zealand's total production - and implies that the E.E.C. could become a market for New Zealand beef. However much political considerations make this unlikely. Western Europe is an area in which New Zealand should now, because of the negotiations on Britain's entry into the E.E.C., take an interest. Projections such as the one mentioned above have used income as the main determinant of future demand, modifying the estimates when they thought the price structure might change. The object of this study has been to try and quantify the relative effects of price and income on E.E.C. demand for beef in order to yield coefficients which might be used in later projection work. Chapter I is a discussion of past and present trends in E.E.C. meat production, consumption and trade, with special reference to beef. Chapter II reviews previous studies of beef demand in Europe, and the E.E.C. in particular. Chapter III describes the meat markets in the E.E.C. countries while Chapter IV develops the models and discusses the data to be used. Chapters V through IX give the results of the analysis country by country and Chapter X is the summary and conclusion.