The Economics of Food Price Volatility
Jean-Paul Chavas, David Hummels, and Brian D. Wright
Abstract
There is still no consensus on the underlying reasons for recent drastic changes in food prices and continuing agricultural market volatility merits a thorough investigation. This book is a collection of research and discussion by various experts on food price volatility, its effect on the farmer and consumer alike, and an evaluation of current knowledge on the subject. They also identify topics that merit further analysis. With great advances in agricultural technology, the fluctuations can largely be attributed to changes in economic policies. Corn has a high degree of importance in the US, ... More
There is still no consensus on the underlying reasons for recent drastic changes in food prices and continuing agricultural market volatility merits a thorough investigation. This book is a collection of research and discussion by various experts on food price volatility, its effect on the farmer and consumer alike, and an evaluation of current knowledge on the subject. They also identify topics that merit further analysis. With great advances in agricultural technology, the fluctuations can largely be attributed to changes in economic policies. Corn has a high degree of importance in the US, which holds about 40% of the crop’s world production. Government subsidies for corn to be used as ethanol have had major impacts on food prices and made them unusually sensitive to weather shocks. Other price fluctuations in food can be attributed to substitution between calorie sources and policy changes, particularly in impoverished countries seeking to insulate their market from more prosperous nations. In recent years, some observers have claimed that food price bubbles have been generated by financial investments in agricultural commodity markets. This new research on food price volatility may help both private and public decision makers to develop improved management strategies and policies that can address current and future market instability.
Keywords:
volatility,
food market,
farmers,
consumers,
agricultural policy,
food price,
agricultural technology,
price fluctuations
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226128924 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: May 2015 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226129082.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Jean-Paul Chavas, editor
Anderson-Bascom Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison
David Hummels, editor
Brian D. Wright, editor
Chair, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley
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