An Investigation of the Demand for Subsidized Food in Urban Areas of Iran, Using AIDS Model for Subsidy Allocation Priority

Governments have an important role in planning and preparing the food these security through protection policies such as subsidizing the basic food in the same time pay subsidies it will increase the government expenditure,and hence, it is necessary to set specific goals carefully. In this article, the demand for main or basic foods, (i.e.bread, meat, milk, edible, oil and sugar) have been estimated by using AIDS Model and taking into account household budget in urban areas and consumer price index through two stage model and cointegration for the years 1934-2005. & estimation was done for both the short-run and the long-run and the homogenous constraint and symmetric have been examined by Wald test. As an instrument of analysis, price elasticity, income elasticity and cross price elasticity of demand have been calculated for the short-run and the long-run. The results show that reducing subsidies on these goods would put a pressure on consumer expenditure through the rise in the prices. However, changes in the structure of subsidies with a gradual reduction in the amount of subsidies for bread, edible oil and sugar and directing the payment toward meat and milk within a specific goal is recommended.