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Do the urban poor face higher food prices? Evidence from Vietnam

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  • Gibson, John
  • Kim, Bonggeun

Abstract

Whether there is a poverty penalty, in terms of food prices, is unsettled in the literature after more than four decades of study. Unit values from household surveys suggest that prices vary with income while outlet surveys typically find food prices varying with store type but not with neighborhood income. Most outlet surveys are from rich countries, with just one spatially limited study from a developing country. In this paper we use especially collected food price data from metropolitan areas of Vietnam to test whether the urban poor face higher food prices. Food prices in low-income neighborhoods are 1% lower, on average, than in other neighborhoods. Unit values give a different answer to the question of whether the poor face higher prices and are not suited to answer such a question.

Suggested Citation

  • Gibson, John & Kim, Bonggeun, 2013. "Do the urban poor face higher food prices? Evidence from Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 193-203.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:41:y:2013:i:c:p:193-203
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.05.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Gibson, John & Kim, Bonggeun, 2013. "Quality, Quantity, and Nutritional Impacts of Rice Price Changes in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 329-340.
    2. Gaddis,Isis, 2016. "Prices for poverty analysis in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7652, The World Bank.
    3. Bairagi, Subir & Mohanty, Samarendu & Baruah, Sampriti & Trinh Thi, Huong, 2020. "Changing food consumption patterns in rural and urban Vietnam: Implications for a future food supply system," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(3), July.
    4. UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa & Bruno Martorano & Giovanni Andrea Cornia, "undated". "Building an Integrated Inequality Dataset and the Seven Sins of Inequality Measurement in sub-Saharan Africa," UNDP Africa Policy Notes 2017-16, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa.
    5. repec:rac:ecchap:2017-16 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Christian Elleby, 2014. "Poverty and Price Transmission," IFRO Working Paper 2015/01, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    7. Emilio Aguirre & Pablo Blanchard & Fernando Borraz & Joaquín Saldain, 2022. "Prices and competition: evidence from a social program," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 85-101, January.
    8. John Gibson & Bonggeun Kim, 2018. "Economies of scale, bulk discounts, and liquidity constraints: comparing unit value and transaction level evidence in a poor country," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 21-39, March.
    9. Mussa, Richard, 2014. "Food Price Heterogeneity and Income Inequality in Malawi: Is Inequality Underestimated?," MPRA Paper 56080, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Vigani,Mauro & Dudu,Hasan, 2021. "Demand Analysis of Multiple Goods and Services in Vietnam," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9803, The World Bank.
    11. Richard Mussa, 2015. "Do the Poor Pay More for Maize in Malawi?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 546-563, 05-27.
    12. Subir Bairagi & Samarendu Mohanty & Sampriti Baruah & Huong Trinh Thi, 2020. "Changing food consumption patterns in rural and urban Vietnam: Implications for a future food supply system," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(3), pages 750-775, July.
    13. Anania, Giovanni & Nisticò, Rosanna, 2014. "Price dispersion and seller heterogeneity in retail food markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 190-201.
    14. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea & Martorano, Bruno, 2017. "Income Inequality Trends in sub-Saharan Africa: Divergence, determinants and consequences: Building an Integrated Inequality Dataset and the ‘Seven Sins’ of Inequality Measurement in Sub-Saharan Afric," UNDP Africa Reports 267776, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    15. Bondemark, Anders, 2020. "The relationship between accessibility and price – The case of Swedish food stores," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Food prices; Poverty; Unit values; Urban markets; Vietnam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

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