Food Security, Arbitrage and Tariffs

William A. Kerr

Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy, 2026, vol. 27, issue 1

Abstract: Arbitrage underpins food security. This is best illustrated by examining famines with their roots in natural disruptions to local food production. Such famines were common up until the early 20th century because the infrastructure to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities did not exist. Economic development combined with technical progress in transportation and communications has meant that such famines are no longer manifest. Policy-based barriers to arbitrage, however, such as tariffs still exist. While famine may not be the result of their imposition, the hardships caused by higher prices for food can lead to lower degrees of food security, especially for those with lower incomes.

Keywords: International; Relations/Trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/404253/files/Kerr27-1lay.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ecjilt:404253

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.404253

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy from Estey Centre for Law and Economics in International Trade Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().