SOAS Research Online

A Free Database of the Latest Research by SOAS Academics and PhD Students

[skip to content]

Dorward, Andrew (2011) 'Getting real about food prices.' Development Policy Review, 29 (6). pp. 647-664.

[img]
Preview
Text - Draft Version
Download (349kB) | Preview

Abstract

The 2008 price spike in world grain prices had serious impacts on food security and poverty but analysts have consistently described these real food prices as low in historical terms. The inconsistency between the severity of the food crisis and low real prices results from the use of advanced and global economy price indices to calculate real prices. This ignores the high share of food in poor people’s expenditures and indirect effects of income growth on expenditure patterns of rich and poor consumers. Poor consumers have not experienced the same falls in real food prices as those with growing incomes and are more vulnerable to price shocks. As high and fluctuating international grain prices appear to be a feature of the current world economy, food price and policy analysis must recognise this, and develop and use different price indices that take account of differences between consumer groups.

Item Type: Journal Article
Keywords: food prices, price indices
SOAS Departments & Centres: Legacy Departments > Faculty of Law and Social Sciences > School of Finance and Management
Legacy Departments > Faculty of Law and Social Sciences > School of Finance and Management > Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
ISSN: 09506764
Copyright Statement: The download above is a working paper which was cut slightly and edited prior to and during review for publication.
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7679.2011.00551.x
Date Deposited: 17 Jan 2011 12:24
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/11094

Altmetric Data

Statistics

Download activity - last 12 monthsShow export options
Downloads since deposit
6 month trend
663Downloads
6 month trend
1,038Hits
Accesses by country - last 12 monthsShow export options
Accesses by referrer - last 12 monthsShow export options

Repository staff only

Edit Item Edit Item