Do Radioactive Spills from the Fukushima Disaster Have any Influence on Seafood Market in Japan?

We investigated whether the spill of radioactive materials from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean had a negative impact on demand for cod and pollock in wholesale markets in Japan. A structural break test detected several break points in the market, including the Fukushima disaster, and successfully eliminated the impact of the other disturbing shocks identified in our analysis. A system of demand equations model which has taken into account the structural breaks indicated that the radioactive spills had a significantly negative impact on demand for cod. Our results suggested that the amount of radiation detected in cod products negatively affected Japanese demand for cod and positively affected demand for pollock, while it did not affect its price. We also found that consumers’ current concerns about radioactive spills positively affect cod and pollock markets. We concluded that radioactive spills harm the markets, but the impact is almost negligible