Aims:  To study the effect of changes in income as well as prices of beer and arrack, on alcohol sales in Sri Lanka during the period 1981–2017. Design:  The analyses were conducted by means of ARIMA time series analysis for arrack and beer separately. Measures: Yearly data on the sales of beer and arrack in the entire country were used. National GDP figures were used as a proxy measure of income, and yearly price data for arrack and beer were from Colombo, the largest metropolitan area in the country. Results:  No short-term effects of changes in price or income were found on sales. However, changes in the price of beer were significant, with a lag structure, which implies a delayed effect of price changes on the sales of beer. A significant cross-price effect of changes in the price of beer on arrack sales was found as well. Conclusions:  Sales of alcohol in Sri Lanka are not affected by price changes to the same extent as in high income countries. Most likely, the explanations will be found in the different drinking cultures between Sri Lanka and these countries.

中文翻译：

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斯里兰卡酒精的价格和收入弹性

目的：研究 1981-2017 年期间收入变化以及啤酒和亚拉克酒价格对斯里兰卡酒类销售的影响。设计：分析是通过ARIMA时间序列分析分别对arrack和beer进行的。措施：采用全国啤酒、亚拉克酒的年销量数据。全国 GDP 数据被用作衡量收入的代理指标，而亚拉克啤酒和啤酒的年度价格数据来自该国最大的大都市区科伦坡。结果：没有发现价格或收入变化对销售额的短期影响。然而，啤酒价格的变化显着，具有滞后结构，这意味着价格变化对啤酒销售的影响存在延迟。还发现了啤酒价格变化对啤酒销售的显着交叉价格影响。结论：与高收入国家相比，斯里兰卡的酒类销售不受价格变化的影响。最有可能的是，可以在斯里兰卡和这些国家之间不同的饮酒文化中找到解释。