Consumer demand with variable preferences in taiwan: an application of the generalized Fechner-Thurstone direct utility function

Time series data on five consumer commodity groups for Taiwan are analyzed using the generalized Fechner-Thurstone direct utility function. Income and price-demand elasticities are derived from unconstrained maximum likelihood estimates of the constant elasticities of marginal rates of substitutions. The elasticities are similar to those obtained for Taiwan using a translog indirect utility function. However, the estimates obtained for Taiwan are significantly different from those reported by other researchers for South Korea and the United States which serves as an indication of differences in the stages of economic development between the economies.