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The impact of food price increases on caloric intake in China
Author(s) -
Jensen Robert T.,
Miller Nolan H.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.29
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1574-0862
pISSN - 0169-5150
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2008.00352.x
Subject(s) - economics , calorie , agricultural economics , china , consumption (sociology) , food prices , panel data , caloric intake , staple food , economic interventionism , caloric theory , agriculture , food security , geography , medicine , body weight , social science , archaeology , endocrinology , sociology , politics , political science , law , econometrics
World food prices have increased dramatically in recent years. We use panel data from 2006 to examine the impact of these increases on the consumption and nutrition of poor households in two Chinese provinces. We find that households in Hunan suffered no nutrition declines. Households in Gansu experienced a small decline in calories, though the decline is on par with usual seasonal effects. The overall nutritional impact of the world price increase was small because households were able to substitute to cheaper foods and because the domestic prices of staple foods remained low due to government intervention in grain markets.