On the crest of price waves or steady as she goes? Explaining the food purchases of the convent-school at Saint-Cyr 1703-1788
Résumé
The analysis of 85 years of food purchases at the richly endowed Saint-Cyr convent school in the 18th century probes determinants of consumption, its short-term variations and long-term shifts. The data lend themselves to econometric examination because the institution relied on market provisioning for all goods, although smaller quantities of fruits, vegetables and eggs (for the sick) produced within the Institution’s walls, complemented registered purchases. The estimation of a demand system shows that fluctuations in prices and revenues manage quite well to explain short-range variations in quantities and budget shares. However, they fail to capture long-term shifts in Saint-Cyr’s food basket. Econometric reasoning directs toward an investigation of structural change but does not provide any definitive conclusion, making the empirical examination of budget parts the best venue to explore secular modifications. The results indicate the need to rethink many long-term relationships positied, in the past as well as the present: an analytical narrative based on economic and other variables explains longterm shifts at Saint-Cyr and suggests that tastes and prices evolve in separate dimensions at different speed.
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