Price trends and income inequalities: will Sub-Saharan-Africa reduce the gap?

Francesco Caracciolo and Fabio Santeramo

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: During the past decade, commodities prices have risen substantially and the trend is likely to persist as attested by recent OECD-FAO projections. The recent debate has not reached a clear consensus on the effects of this trend on poverty and income inequality in LDCs, thus complicating the policy planning process. Our paper aims at analyzing the likely welfare and income inequality impacts of food price trends in three Sub-Saharan countries, namely Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia. Moreover, we test the statistical significance of changes in income inequalities. Despite Tanzania is not affected, we find that price changes tend to exacerbate the income inequalities in Ethiopia and Ghana, especially for specific groups of households: the policy implications are relevant. Finally, our paper underlines the relevance of statistical inference in analysis on income inequalities, to conclude on welfare and inequalities effects of food price movements.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan-Africa; Price effects; Welfare; Income Inequality; Generalized Entropy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 O12 Q12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-05
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published in African Development Review 1.25(2013): pp. 42-54

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Related works:
Journal Article: Price Trends and Income Inequalities: Will Sub-Saharan Africa Reduce the Gap? (2013)
Journal Article: Price Trends and Income Inequalities: Will Sub-Saharan Africa Reduce the Gap? (2013)
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