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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)

Abstract

Relative to non-food items, food tends to be cheaper in rich, as compared with poor European 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's Law, econometrically specified, indicates that the relative price of food 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, 2005. "Why Is Food Cheaper in Rich (European) Countries?," wiiw Research Reports 322, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    • Handle: RePEc:wii:rpaper:rr:322
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Clements, Kenneth W & Selvanathan, Saroja, 1994. "Understanding Consumption Patterns," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 69-110.
    2. Leon Podkaminer, 2003. "Analytical notes on the Balassa-Samuelson effect," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 56(226), pages 207-221.
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    6. E A Selvanathan & S Selvanathan, 2003. "International Consumption Comparisons:OECD Versus LDC," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number 4167, December.
    7. Syrquin, Moshe, 1988. "Patterns of structural change," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 203-273, Elsevier.
    8. Irving B. Kravis & Robert E. Lipsey, 1982. "Towards an Explanation of National Price Levels," NBER Working Papers 1034, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Kenneth W. Clements & Antony Selvanathan & Saroja Selvanathan, 1996. "Applied Demand Analysis: A Survey," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 72(216), pages 63-81, March.
    10. Bhagwati, Jagdish N, 1984. "Why Are Services Cheaper in the Poor Countries?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 94(374), pages 279-286, June.
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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

    relative prices; structural change; cross-country demand functions; demand for food;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D51 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Exchange and Production Economies

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