This book is the first to present an extensive analysis of the international evidence for the similarities of the consumption patterns of such controversial commodities as alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, using recent data from a number of developed and less developed countries over a number of years. The book also presents analysis of the consumption patterns of food in general and soft drinks in particular. In addition the book provides a detailed analysis of the consumption restrictions and regulations in place in various countries in relation to issues associated with taxation, availability, and marketing of these products. The book's focus is on rigorous empirical analysis and presents the estimates of demand elasticities of these five commodities across different countries. Such estimates are key inputs for government economic models that are used for the purpose of social policy analysis. Furthermore, the book presents hypothesis testing results on various demand theory hypotheses such as demand homogeneity and Slutsky symmetry.
