Welfare consequences of food prices increases: Evidence from rural Mexico

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Attanasio, Orazio; Di Maro, Vincenzo; Lechene, Valerie; Phillips, David
• 署名单位: University of London; University College London; The World Bank
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2013.03.009
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 136-151
• 关键词: Welfare; Food prices; demand; POLICY; Conditional cash transfer

摘要

This paper presents an analysis of the welfare consequences of recent increases in food prices in Mexico using micro-level data. We estimate a QUAIDS model of demand for food, using data collected to evaluate the conditional cash transfer program Oportunidades. We show how the poor have been affected by the recent increases and changes in relative prices of foods. We also show how a conditional cash transfer program provides a means of alleviating the problem of increasing staple prices, and simulate the impact of such a policy on household welfare and consumer demand. We contrast this policy with alternative policy responses, such as price subsidies, which distort relative prices and are less well-targeted. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.