沒有什么比得上的了?調(diào)查食品成本是城市動蕩的驅(qū)動因素(英)_第1頁
沒有什么比得上的了?調(diào)查食品成本是城市動蕩的驅(qū)動因素(英)_第2頁
沒有什么比得上的了?調(diào)查食品成本是城市動蕩的驅(qū)動因素(英)_第3頁
沒有什么比得上的了?調(diào)查食品成本是城市動蕩的驅(qū)動因素(英)_第4頁
沒有什么比得上的了?調(diào)查食品成本是城市動蕩的驅(qū)動因素(英)_第5頁
已閱讀5頁,還剩49頁未讀, 繼續(xù)免費閱讀

下載本文檔

版權說明:本文檔由用戶提供并上傳,收益歸屬內(nèi)容提供方,若內(nèi)容存在侵權,請進行舉報或認領

文檔簡介

InternationalInteractions

EmpiricalandTheoreticalResearchinInternationalRelations

ISSN:(Print)(Online)Journalhomepage:

/journals/gini20

NothingCompares?InvestigatingtheCostofFood

asaDriverofUrbanUnrest

IdaRudolfsen&ToddG.Smith

Tocitethisarticle:IdaRudolfsen&ToddG.Smith(13Apr2024):NothingCompares?

InvestigatingtheCostofFoodasaDriverofUrbanUnrest,InternationalInteractions,DOI:

10.1080/03050629.2024.2319096

Tolinktothisarticle:

/10.1080/03050629.2024.2319096

?2024TheAuthor(s).Publishedwith

licensebyTaylor&FrancisGroup,LLC

Viewsupplementarymaterial3

Publishedonline:13Apr2024.

Submityourarticletothisjournal

Viewrelatedarticles

ViewCrossmarkdata

FullTerms&Conditionsofaccessandusecanbefoundat

/action/journalInformation?journalCode=gini20

InternatIonalInteractIons

/10.1080/03050629.2024.2319096

NothingCompares?InvestigatingtheCostofFoodasaDriverofUrbanUnrest

IdaRudolfsen

andToddG.Smith

PeaceresearchInstituteoslo(PrIo)

ABSTRACT

Increasingfoodpriceshaveimplicationsforbasicsubsistence,haveastrongpricevisibilityandsymbolicvalue,andarecharacterizedbyhighvolatilityandinelasticityofdemand.Researchthusassumesthatfoodpriceisanimportanttriggerforunrest.Yet,whetherfoodisanespeciallypotentdriverforpeople’swillingnesstoengageincollectiveaction,orwhetheritconcernsgrievancesaboutgeneralinflation,isunknown.Doesfoodhaveagreatereffectonthewillingnesstopartici-pateinunrest?ThepaperinvestigatestherelativeimportanceoffoodinmobilizationpotentialbyusinguniquedatafromasurveyexperimentinJohannesburg,SouthAfrica.Theexperi-mentcollectsinformationonhowpriceincreasesinfood,fuel,andelectricityaffectsrespondents’willingnesstoengageinunrest.Theresultsshowahigherwillingnesstoengageincollectiveactionwhenpresentedwithincreasinglivingexpenses,regardlessofwhetheritisfood,fuelorelectricity,comparedtostableprices.Wealsoconsiderthelevelofriskexposuretopricehikes,andfindthatthosewhoreportgoinghungryinthelastyearhaveahigherwillingnesstoengageinunrestthanthosewhodonot.Thus,foodaccessinfluencesthewillingnesstopartakeinunrestduringpricehikes,alsoforcommoditiesseeminglyunrelatedtofood.Thissuggeststhatforthosewhoaremostaffectedbyapricehikeitislessimportantwhattypeofcommodityitis.Thequestioniswhetheritintroducesfurtherstrainonanalreadyhard-stretchedbudget.

Lospreciosenaumentodelosproductosdealimentacióntienenimplicacionessobrelasubsistenciabásica.Además,estospreciosenaumentotambiéntienenunafuertevisibilidadenmateriadeprecioyunvalorsimbólico,ysecaracterizanporunaaltavolatilidadeinelasticidaddelademanda.Porlotanto,lainvestigaciónasumequeelpreciodelosalimentosesundesencadenanteimportantedeagitaciónsocial.Sinembargo,nosabemossielpreciodelosalimentosesunacausalosufi-cientementerelevanteparaquelaspersonasdecidanparticiparenaccionescolectivas,osiestasaccionesestánmásrelaciona-dasconquejassobrelainflacióngeneral.?Tienenlospreciosdelosalimentosunmayorefectosobreladisposicióndela

KEYWORDS

Livingexpenses;food;

Johannesburg,South

Africa;surveyexperiment;urbanunrest

CONTACTIdarudolfsen

idarud@

PeaceresearchInstituteoslo(PrIo),oslo,norway

supplementaldataforthisarticlecanbeaccessedonlineat

/10.1080/03050629.2024.2319096

.?2024theauthor(s).Publishedwithlicensebytaylor&FrancisGroup,llc

thisisanopenaccessarticledistributedunderthetermsofthecreativecommonsattributionlicense(

http://creativecommons.

org/licenses/by/4.0/

),whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited.thetermsonwhichthisarticlehasbeenpublishedallowthepostingoftheacceptedManuscriptinarepositorybytheauthor(s)orwiththeirconsent.

2

I.RUDOLFSENANDT.G.SMITH

poblaciónaparticiparendisturbiossociales?Esteartículoinvestigaesteasuntoutilizandodatosúnicosdeunexperi-mentodeencuestaenJohannesburgo,Sudáfrica.Esteexperi-mentorecogeinformaciónsobrecómolosaumentosdepreciosdelosalimentos,delcombustibleydelaelectricidadinfluyensobrelavoluntaddelosencuestadosaparticiparendisturbiossociales.Losresultadosmuestranunamayordisposiciónapar-ticiparenaccionescolectivascuandoexisteunaumentodeloscostesdevida,peroesteefectonoesmásfuerteparaelpreciodelosalimentosencomparaciónconotrosproductosbásicos.Tambiéntenemosencuentaelniveldeexposiciónalriesgodelassubidasdeprecios,ydescubrimosquequienesdeclaranhaberpasadohambreenelúltimoa?otienenunamayordis-posiciónaparticiparendisturbiossocialesquelosquenolohacen.Porlotanto,elaccesoalosalimentostienepotencialenmateriademovilización,nosolodebidoalosprecios,sinotam-biénentérminosdecómoinfluyeenladisposiciónaparticiparendisturbiossocialesdurantelosaumentosdeprecios.Estotambiénocurreparaproductosbásicosaparentementenorela-cionadosconlosalimentos.Estosugierequeparaaquellasper-sonasquesevenmásafectadasporunaumentodeprecios,eltipodeproductonoresultatanimportante.Lapreguntaquenoshacemosessiestocreamáspresiónsobreunasituaciónqueyaesvulnerableysobreunpresupuestomuyajustado.

Lahaussedesprixdel’alimentationentra?nedesconséquencespourlesmoyensdesubsistancedebase.Cesprixsontpartic-ulièrementvisiblesetleurvaleursymbolique,maisilssecar-actérisentégalementparunevolatilitéélevéeetunmanqued’élasticitédelademande.Aussilarechercheprésuppose-t-ellequeleprixdel’alimentationconstitueunfacteurdéclencheurimportantd’agitationurbaine.Pourtant,nousnesavonspasaveccertitudesil’alimentation,àelleseule,pousseeffective-mentlesgensàl’actioncollective,ous’ils’agitdavantaged’unmécontentementquantàl’inflationgénérale.L’alimentationincite-t-elledavantageàl’action?Cetarticles’intéresseàcettequestionàl’aidededonnéesuniquesissuesd’uneexpériencedesondageàJohannesburg,enAfriqueduSud.L’expériencerecueilledesinformationssurl’effetdel’augmentationdesprixdelanourriture,ducarburantetdel’électricitésurledésirduparticipantdesejoindreàl’agita-tion.D’aprèslesrésultats,cedésiraugmentequandleco?tdelavieaugmente,maisl’effetneserenforcepaspourleprixdelanourriture,comparéàd’autresmarchandises.Enprenantaussiencompteleniveaud’expositionaurisquedehaussedesprix,nousobservonsquelespersonnessignalantavoirsouffertdelafaimdurantl’annéepasséesontplusenclinesàparticiperàl’agitationsocialequelesautres.Ainsi,l’accèsàlanourriturepossèdeunpotentieldemobilisationvis-à-visdesonprix,maisaussiparcequ’ilauneincidencesurlavolontédeprendrepartàl’agitationlorsdeshaussesdeprix,etmêmepourdesmarchandisesquin’auraientaucunrapportaveclanourriture.Aussi,pourlespersonneslesplusaffectéesparleshaussesdeprix,letypedemarchandiseauraituneimportancemoindre.Unequestionsappara?talors:cessituationsdevulnérabilitéetd’insuffisancebudgétairenes’entrouvent-ellespasaggravées?

INTERNATIONALINTERACTIONS3

Introduction

Extantacademicliteraturesuggestsapositiveassociationbetweenhigherfoodpricesandunrest.

1

Studiesoffoodandcontentiousactionincreasedinthewakeofthefoodpricespikesin2007–2008and2010–2011andthecorrespondingunrestthatfollowed(Bellemare

2015

;BushandMartiniello

2017

;Sneyd,Legwegoh,andFraser

2013

).TheinterestinandimportanceofunderstandingthesocietalimpactsofincreasinglivingexpenseshasonlyfurtherbeenstrengthenedaftertheCOVID-19pandemicandtheRussianinvasionofUkraine.Concernsabouthighinflationhassweptacrosstheglobewherecountriesgrapplewithacostoflivingcrisis,andincreasingpricesofcommoditiessuchasenergy,foodandfertilizerpriceshascorrespondedwithprotestsinawiderangeofcountriesintheAmericas,Asia,Africa,andtheMiddleEast(Marsh,RudolfsenandAasRustad

2022

;HossainandHallock

2022

).

Theroleoffoodpricesisoftenpointedtoasaparticularlyrelevantphenomenonintherelativedeprivation–conflictnexus(e.g.Gurr

1970

;HendrixandHaggard

2015

).Thisisbecausefoodisassumedtohavespecificfeaturesthatseparatesitfromothercommodities,relatedtotheimportanceoffoodforbasicsubsistence,itspricevisibility,symbolism,andvolatilityandinelasticityofdemand(WeinbergandBakker

2015

).Yet,whilepreviousresearchpointstofoodasoneofthemostfundamentalaspectintherelativedeprivation–conflictlink,thequestionofwhetherfoodisamoreimportantcommoditycomparedtootherlivingexpensesinmotivatingparticipationinunrestremainssofarunexplored.Thisarticleseekstoshedlightonthisquestion:Isthecostoffoodanespeciallycompellingdriverforpeople’swillingnesstoengageinunrestcomparedtoothercommoditiesthatmakeupasubstantialshareofthehouseholdbudget?

Toaddressthisquestion,thestudyusesanindividual-levelapproachbyaskingconsumersabouttheirwillingnesstoengageinunrestfollowinganincreaseinthepriceoffood,fuelandelectricityrespectively.Intherealworld,thepricesoftheseitemsoftenshiftintandem.Asweseektoidentifytheimportanceofonecommoditypricehikeoveranother,andsincetheoutbreakofunrestmayalsoinfluencethepriceoffoodand

1

Weunderstandunrestasanoverarchingtermforvariousformsofcoordinatedactioninvolvingmultipleindividuals,andfocushereonsuchcollectiveeffortsoccurringinurbanareas.Weusecollectiveactionandunrestinterchangeablythroughoutthearticle.Theactioncanbemoreorlesslegitimate,organized,legalandviolent(Opp

2009

;Tilly

1978

).Whileweprobedifferenttypesofcollectiveaction,weargueforsimilaritiesintheunderlyingprocessthatmightgeneratecontentiousaction(McAdam,TarrowandTilly

2001

).Thedifferentformsofactionsincludedhereareattendingwardmeetingstoraiseconcern,demonstrations,strikes,andshuttingdowntraffic.Armedconflictisnotincludedinthisdefinition.Whilethetermunrestmayhavenegativenormativeassociationswithit,wepassnojudgmentoncollectiveactionasareactiontoincreasingcosts.Unrestisawell-establishedtermintheliterature,andweuseitheretoencompassavarietyofpossibleresponsestoincreasedhouseholdspending.

4I.RUDOLFSENANDT.G.SMITH

otheritems,weneedaresearchdesignthatcanaccountforendogeneityandallowustodistinguishbetweencauseandeffect(Raleigh,ChoiandKniveton

2015

).Thestudythereforemakesuseofavignetteexperimentwherewerandomlyassignrespondentstotreatmentandcontrolconditionsconsistingoffictionalnewsstoriesofcomingpricehikesandsubsequentlymapconsumerreactions.Westudyhowinformationaboutdifferentcom-moditypricesaffectsthestatedwillingnesstoengageinunrest.

WeusedatafromasurveyexperimentconductedinJohannesburg,SouthAfrica,andthecaseisparticularlywellsuitedtostudythephe-nomenonofinterestforseveralreasons.Johannesburghasexperiencedarelativelyhighnumberofbothpeacefulandviolentevents,especiallysincethemid2000s(Hart

2013

;Paret

2017

;Tournadre

2018

).Also,asinSouthAfricaingeneral,Johannesburgexhibitswidespreadpoverty,inequalityandfoodinsecurity(Chatterjee,CzajkaandGethin

2021

;Rudolphetal.

2012

;StatisticsSouthAfrica

2019

).Inaddition,thephenomenonofinterestisinacontextofurbanconsumers,withcorrespondingpopulationdensityandheterogeneitythatmayprovidemobilizationpotential(Verpoortenetal.

2013

).Atthesametime,thecaseexhibitssignificantvariationwithregardstobothunrestactivityandsocioeconomicstatus.

Theresultsshowthatrespondentsaremorewillingtoengageincol-lectiveactionwhenpresentedwithincreasinglivingexpensescomparedtostableprices,regardlessofwhetheritisfood,fuelorelectricity.Wealsoassessthelevelofvulnerabilitytopricehikesfortheindividual,andfindthatthosewhoreportgoinghungryinthelastyeararemorewillingtoengageinunrestovercommoditypricehikesthanthosewhodonot.Thus,foodhasmobilizationpotentialnotonlyduetoitsprice,butalsointermsofhowfoodinsecurityinfluencesthewillingnesstopartakeinunrestduringpricehikes,alsoforcommoditiesseeminglyunrelatedtofood.Thissuggeststhatforthosewhoaremostaffectedbyapricehikeitislessimportantwhattypeofcommodityitis.Thequestioniswhetheritintroducesfurtherstrainonanalreadyvulnerablesituationandhard-stretchedbudget.

Wecontributetotheliteratureonfoodandunrestinseveralways.First,whiletheliteratureonfoodpriceandcollectiveactionisgrowingrapidly,previousstudieshavereliedprimarilyonaggregateddata.Fillingthisgapintheliterature,thestudyutilizesindividual-leveldatatoassesstheimportanceofincreasedcostoflivingformobilizationpotential.Second,toourknowledge,thisstudyisalsothefirsttomapreactionstodifferentcommoditypricehikes,comparingfood,fuelandelectricityinanexperimentaldesigntoassessthewillingnesstoengageinunrestdependingonvariationinthesourceofincreasedlivingexpenses.Finally,thepapercontributestotheliteratureonrelativedeprivationandsocialconflictbyaccountingfornotonlyreactionstoincreasingprices,butalso

INTERNATIONALINTERACTIONS5

theindividual’svulnerabilitytoit.Whilepreviousstudieshavelargelyusedaggregatefoodpricesasaproxyforrelativedeprivationfortheindividual,wemeasureriskexposuredirectlybyaccountingforfoodinsecurity.Thus,thestudyseekstograppleandunderstandtherelativeimportanceoffoodincollectiveaction.Whileincreasinglivingcostscanhaveadverseimpactsonurbanconsumers,wehavelittleunderstandingofhowtheunderlyingvulnerabilitytosuchashockimpactmobilizationpotential.Somestrandsintheliteraturepointtotheimportanceoffoodbecauseofitsfundamentalnature,otherssuggestthatfoodfunctionsasthelaststrawthatignitesunrestduetogeneralinflation.Ourstudysuggeststhatitisboth,wherehighercostoflivingincreasesthewillingnesstoengageinunrest,butthiswillingnessiscontingentonthevulnerabilitytopricehikes.

Inthefollowingsections,webrieflypresentanoverviewoftheexistingliterature.Wethenoutlinethetheoreticalframeworkandhypotheses,beforeintroducingtheresearchdesignandanalysis.Subsequently,wediscusssomeofthethreatstoinferencegiventheresearchdesignandexternalvalidity,beforemakingsomeconcludingremarks.

IncreasingCostofLivingandSocialUnrest

Thebodyofresearchontheroleoffoodinprecipitatingunrestisvastandhavelonghistoricalroots(seee.g.Abbs

2020

,BeraznevaandLee

2013

,BienenandGersovitz

1986

,BrinkmanandHendrix

2011

,Bush

2010

,DeWinneandPeersman

2021

;HendrixandBrinkman

2013

,Hertel

2014

,Heslin

2021

,Jones,MattiacciandBraumoeller

2017

,KorenandBagozzi

2016

,Popkin

1979

,Rudé

1964

,Scott

1976

,Tilly

1971

,

1983

,Thompson

1971

,Walton

1994

,WeinbergandBakker

2015

),andthereisanemergingconsensusinthefieldthatincreasingfoodpricesleadtounrest,especiallyinurbanareas(Demarest

2014

;Rudolfsen

2020

).Recentquantitativestudies,usingbothlocal(Raleigh,ChoiandKniveton

2015

;Smith

2014

)andglobal(Bellemare

2015

;HendrixandHaggard

2015

;Sternberg

2012

)foodprices,havefoundthathigherfoodpricesincreasetheriskofunrest.ArezkiandBrückner(

2014

),forexample,pointtothewideninggapbetweenrichandpoorwhenpricesincrease.Thisinter-temporalchangeinrelativedeprivationsubsequentlyincreasedtheriskofconflict.Inthesamevein,Smith(

2014

)proposesthatcon-sumergrievancescouldincreaseunrestiftheelitecapturesincreasedrevenue,andtheeffectofrisingpricesonunrestisdrivenbyconsumergrievanceoverincreasedeconomicpressure.Economicgrievancesincreaseduetohighercostsasalargershareofthehouseholdbudgetisspentonincreasinglycostlylivingexpenses.

Relevantworkinthiscontextisalsostudiesexploringthelinkbetweenenergypricesandprotest.Whiletheliteratureonelectricitypricesand

6I.RUDOLFSENANDT.G.SMITH

unrestis,toourknowledge,scant

2

,therehasbeenanuptickinthenumberofstudiesfocusingonfuelpricesandvariousformsofsocialunrestinrecentyears(seee.g.Agbonifo

2023

;DubeandVargas

2013

;IshakandFarzanegan

2022

;Jetten,MolsandSelvanathan

2020

;Natalini,BravoandNewman

2020

).Forexample,VadlamannatianddeSoysa(

2020

)findthatbothhighoilpricesinoil-importingcountriesandlowoilpricesioil-pro-ducingcountriesleadtoprotest,conditionalonthelevelofforeignexchangereserves.Inaddition,investigating41countriesbetween2005and2018,McCullochetal.(

2022

)findthatdomesticfuelpriceshocksareakeydriverofriots.Theyalsofindthatcountrieswithlargefuelsubsidiesaremoreatriskoffuelriotswhenthispolicybecomesunsus-tainabletoupholdduetofiscalconcerns.Inametastudyincludingareviewof350studies,Blair,ChristensenandRudkin(

2021

)findthathigheroilpricesispositivelyassociatedwithconflict.

Basedonpreviousresearch,thereisoverallagreementintheliteraturethatincreasinglivingexpenses(especiallyintheformoffoodandfuelprices)ispositivelyassociatedwithsocialunrest.However,weknowmuchlessabouttheirrelativeimportanceinmobilizationpotentialbasedonconsumerpreferences.Inthefollowing,wethereforeoutlinetwopropo-sitionsonthemotivationtopartakeinunrestbasedonincreasinglivingexpenses,andwhethertheincreasingcostoffoodwouldbeanespeciallypotentdriverinthisregard.

WhyFoodPricesMaybeEspeciallyAggrieving

Thelinkbetweenhigherlivingcostsandsocialupheavaltendstobeexplainedthroughrelativedeprivation,acentraltheoryinconflictresearch(Gurr

1970

).Relativedeprivationistheexperiencedgapbetweenaperson’sdesiredandactualsituation,definedintermsofperceivedentitlements.Relativedeprivationincreaseswiththelossofentitlementswhenlivingexpensesrise.Feelingsofdeprivationcouldoccurbyaperson’sassessmentofdeterioratingwelfare,orbyinterpersonalorinter-groupcomparisons.

Studiesoftenpointtofoodassomethingespeciallyaggrieving,wherefeelingsofrelativedeprivationshouldbecomeparticularlysalientinthecaseoffoodpricehikes.Thisisbecausefoodhaswell-knownfeaturesthatseparateitfromothercommodities,suchasthenecessityoffoodpurchaseforbasicsubsistence,itspricevisibility,symbolism,andthevolatilityandinelasticityofdemand.Thefirstandmostfundamentalpropositionfor

2

Therehasbeenasignificantnumberofprotestsrelatedtoelectricitypricesinrecentyears,includingawiderangeofcountriessuchasBulgaria,Italy,SriLankaandLebanon(HossainandHallock

2022

).Moreresearchonthistopicisthereforeinhighdemand.

INTERNATIONALINTERACTIONS7

whyfoodpricewouldbeanespeciallylikelymechanismthroughwhichgrievancesleadtoconflictisthenecessityofpurchasingfoodforbasicsubsistence:“Theargumentwouldseemparticularlyplausibleforfood,whichisthemostbasicofallnecessitiesandtheonemostlikelytoembodyexplicitorimplicitpoliticalentitlements”(HendrixandHaggard

2015

,145).AccordingtoGurr,relativedeprivationismostlikelytooccuroverissuesthatpeoplebelievetheyarerightfullyentitled,whereitislikelythatfoodwouldbeonesuchentitlement.Thus,foodpriceswouldhaveaparticulareffectonthewelfareofpoorindividualswhoarenetpurchasersoffood(seee.g.D’SouzaandJolliffe(

2012

)).

3

Foodpurchaseasanessentialhumannecessitysuggeststhatrisingfoodpricesleadtorisingfoodinsecurityandareductionintheopportunitycostofviolentunrest.Thisargumentisbasedonthespecialnatureoffoodasnecessaryforhumansurvivalcom-paredtoothercommoditiesorcostsofliving.Inthewordsof(Bush

2010

,119):“Foodisacommodityanditsusevalue,unlikethoseofmostothercommodities,providesforthemaintenanceandreproductionoflifeitselfGrievance-inducedunrestwouldthereforeseemparticularlyplausibleforfood(Pinstrup-AndersenandShimokawa

2008

).

Second,foodpricecouldbeanespeciallycompellingdriverforunrestduetothevisibilityofincreasingfoodpricesfortheconsumer.WhileaggregateeconomictrendsandsmallerchangesintheGDPmaybedif-ficultforindividualstotrackandmakecalculationsaboutinordertoidentifypotentialgrievances,foodpricesaremucheasiertoobserveasconsumersmakechoicesbasedontheirownfinances,ratherthanaggre-gateeconomictrends.FoodisagoodpurchasedregularlyandisthereforeaccordingtoWeinbergandBakker(

2015

)thebestavailableindicatorofanindividual’seconomicwell-being.Itprovidesadirectassessmentofscarcityandisthereforebothmoreeasilyandmorefrequentlyobserved. Third,foodhasasymbolicvalueasathreattosubsistence.Forexample,accordingtoSimmons(

2016

),thethreattoaffordableaccesstowaterandtortillainMexicoheightenedsolidaritywithinandbetweencommunities,wherethethreattosubsistencegoodswerenotonlymaterialthreatsbutalsothreatstocommunity.Thethreattosubsistencehelpsbridgecleavagesbetweensocialgroupsandfacilitatewidespreadmobilization.Similarly,accordingto(Abbs

2020

,285),thecross-cuttingnatureofincreasingcostoffoodsetsitapartfromothertypesofissues.Foodpriceshocksprovide

3

Certainly,theoverallimpactofincreasingfoodpricesdependsonwhethertheindividualorhouseholdisnetproducerorconsumer.Theincomeoffarmhouseholds,oftenthepoorestincomegroupindevel-opingcountries,mayincreaseduetohigherfoodprices.However,studieshavefoundthattheoverallimpactoffoodpricesonpovertyisgenerallyadverseaspoorpeopletendtobenetconsumersoffoodandtherebyhurtbyhigherfoodprices.Thisisespeciallytrueforurbanhouseholds,whichisthefocusofthispaper(seee.g.CohenandGarrett

2010

;Ivanic,MartinandZaman

2012

).

8I.RUDOLFSENANDT.G.SMITH

anopportunityformovementstomobilizeacrossintra-ethnicdividesduetofoodpricesbeingauniqueandsymbolicissue,where“[…]foodpricespikesgeneratesuperordinategoalsthatunifynormallydividedgroupsAlso,HossainandScott-Villiers(

2017

)writethatfoodriotssignalthatthestateisunabletomeetthemostbasicconditionofthesocialcontract,whichcreatespressureonthestatetoaddressthemostfundamentaloffailings.

Increasingfoodpricesmaybedistinctiveasadriverofunrestcomparedtoothercostsoflivingfortwoadditionalreasons.First,foodpricesaregenerallymorevolatilethanothercommodities.Thisvolatilitymaycreateacutehardshipsduringtimesofparticularlysharpincreasesinwaysthatmorepredictablysteadyincreasesinothercostsoflivingwouldnot.Forexample,thecostofhousingisgenerallymuchmorestablethanthecostoffood.Whilethecostofhousingisoftenthelargestsingleexpenditure,afamily’srentorloanpaymentisoftensetformonthsoryearsinadvanceofwhentheexpensewillbeincurred.Whileanincreaseinthecostofhousingcanhaveasignificantimpactonahousehold’sbudget,itisgen-erallypredictableinadvanceand,therefore,moreeasilyadaptedto.Foodprices,however,canchangedaily,monthlyorweekly,whichcanplaceunforeseenstressonhouseholdbudgets(Tadesseetal.

2014

).Onecom-moditythatmayexhibitsimilarlevelsofvolatilitytofoodisthecostoffuel,particularlypetrolorgasolinefortransportation.Thecostoffuel,however,isdistinctfromfoodinanotherimportantway:risingfoodpricestendtohaveamoresubstantialimpacto

溫馨提示

  • 1. 本站所有資源如無特殊說明,都需要本地電腦安裝OFFICE2007和PDF閱讀器。圖紙軟件為CAD,CAXA,PROE,UG,SolidWorks等.壓縮文件請下載最新的WinRAR軟件解壓。
  • 2. 本站的文檔不包含任何第三方提供的附件圖紙等,如果需要附件,請聯(lián)系上傳者。文件的所有權益歸上傳用戶所有。
  • 3. 本站RAR壓縮包中若帶圖紙,網(wǎng)頁內(nèi)容里面會有圖紙預覽,若沒有圖紙預覽就沒有圖紙。
  • 4. 未經(jīng)權益所有人同意不得將文件中的內(nèi)容挪作商業(yè)或盈利用途。
  • 5. 人人文庫網(wǎng)僅提供信息存儲空間,僅對用戶上傳內(nèi)容的表現(xiàn)方式做保護處理,對用戶上傳分享的文檔內(nèi)容本身不做任何修改或編輯,并不能對任何下載內(nèi)容負責。
  • 6. 下載文件中如有侵權或不適當內(nèi)容,請與我們聯(lián)系,我們立即糾正。
  • 7. 本站不保證下載資源的準確性、安全性和完整性, 同時也不承擔用戶因使用這些下載資源對自己和他人造成任何形式的傷害或損失。

評論

0/150

提交評論