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Why is food cheaper in rich (European) countries?

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  • Leon Podkaminer

    (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW), Vienna (Austria))

Abstract

Relative to non-food items, food tends to be cheaper in rich, as compared with poorEuropean countries. This tendency cannot be explained in terms of cost developments or foreign-trade considerations. A positive explanation proposed focuses on demand-income-supply interaction. An analysis of a cross-country price-augmented modification of Engel Law, econometrically specified, indicates that the relative price offood is related positively to the supply of food items and negatively to that of non-food items. This finding is consistent with "agricultural price scissors", and also casts a different light on the nature of economic development and structural change.

Suggested Citation

  • Leon Podkaminer, 2004. "Why is food cheaper in rich (European) countries?," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 57(230), pages 297-327.
    • Handle: RePEc:psl:bnlaqr:2004:33
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    File URL: http://ojs.uniroma1.it/index.php/PSLQuarterlyReview/article/view/9830/9715
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Vasily Astrov & Leon Podkaminer, 2017. "Energy Tariff Reform in Ukraine: Estimated Effects and Policy Options," wiiw Research Reports 416, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    2. Leon Podkaminer, 2010. "Real Convergence And Price Levels: Long‐Term Tendencies Versus Short‐Term Performance In The Enlarged European Union," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 640-664, November.
    3. Leon Podkaminer, 2013. "Persistent gaps between purchasing power parities and exchange rates under the law of one price: a puzzle (partly) explained?," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 44(4), pages 333-352.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Food; Prices;

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L66 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Food; Beverages; Cosmetics; Tobacco
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices

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