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Rising Staple Prices and Food Insecurity: The Case of the Mexican Tortilla

Author

Listed:
  • Camilo Bohorquez-Penuela

    (Banco de la República de Colombia)

  • Mariana Urbina-Ramirez

Abstract

We study the relationship between rising prices of tortilla - the Mexican staple par excellence - and household food insecurity between 2008 and 2014, a period in which global food prices experienced dramatic increases. The use of a unique combination of household-level data and oficial state-level information on prices allows us exploit significant variation in prices across the Mexican states. Since households cannot be tracked across time, we follow Deaton (1985) by constructing a series of pseudo-panels to control for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity and measurement error. The regression estimates suggest that increasing tortilla prices affected food insecurity rates in Mexico. More specifically, households with children or those in the second or third income quintile are more likely to be affected. **** RESUMEN: Estudiamos la relación entre el aumento de precios de la tortilla - el alimento esencial por excelencia en México - y la inseguridad alimentaria de los hogares entre 2008 2014, un periodo en el que los precios globales de los alimentos sufrieron incrementos extraordinarios. El uso de una combinación única de datos de encuestas de hogares e información oficial de precios por estados nos permite explotar una variación significativa a través de las distintas unidades administrativas del territorio mexicano. Dado que los hogares no pueden ser seguidos a través del tiempo, nos apoyamos en Deaton (1985) para construir una serie de pseudo-páneles para controlar en nuestras estimaciones por error de medición y heterogeneidad no observada que no varía con el tiempo. Los estimadores sugieren que el incremento de los precios de la tortilla aumentó la inseguridad alimentaria en México, principalmente en hogares con niños y aquellos que se ubican en el segundo y tercer quintil de la distribución de ingresos per cápita.

Suggested Citation

  • Camilo Bohorquez-Penuela & Mariana Urbina-Ramirez, 2020. "Rising Staple Prices and Food Insecurity: The Case of the Mexican Tortilla," Borradores de Economia 1144, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdr:borrec:1144
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.32468/be.1144
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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