摘要：This paper aimed to assess the changes in the consumption quantity of roasted and ground coffee in response to changes in the consumers' income, in the Southeast Region of Brazil, specifically in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and in all areas of the covered by the POF (Brazil). For that, the income elasticity of the consumption of those types of coffees was estimated by using an econometric model that fitted a three-segment polygon to show as the per capita physical consumption of those types of coffee varies as the per capita family monthly income changes. The data were gathered from the Family Budget Survey for the years of 2002/2003, published by the IBGE. The estimated income elasticity for roasted and ground coffee was greater than zero and smaller than one, suggesting that this product is considered a normal good in the analyzed regions, i.e., a variation in the consumer's income will lead to a less than proportional variation in the coffee consumption.
关键词：Income elasticity;Coffee consumption;Southeast Region
