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The impact of food price increases on caloric intake in China |
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| Authors: | Robert T Jensen Nolan H Miller |
| Institution: | 1. UCLA School of Public Affairs, 3250 Public Affairs Building, Los Angeles, CA 90095‐1656, USA;2. Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, 111 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA;3. National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue,Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;4. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA |
| Abstract: | 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. |
| Keywords: | D12 Q18 Poverty Nutrition Food prices China |