A study\u00a0by Marc\u00a0F. Bellemare\u00a0(2011) studies the link\u00a0between\u00a0food prices\u00a0and\u00a0food-related protests and\u00a0riots.\u00a0The study\u00a0uses\u00a0the amount of\u00a0news\u00a0about\u00a0food riots\u00a0as a measure of\u00a0how widespread\u00a0protests\u00a0are\u00a0and relates these to monthly data\u00a0on\u00a0food prices.\u00a0This creates\u00a0a relatively\u00a0short time periods\u00a0(months rather\u00a0than\u00a0years),\u00a0which increases the\u00a0accuracy of\u00a0the relationship. Indeed, if one studies the relationship\u00a0betweenthe protests in\u00a0the Middle East\u00a0that began\u00a0in January\u00a0and February\u00a0with annual data,\u00a0one would have\u00a0missed the fact that that they\u00a0were preceded by\u00a0very\u00a0large price increases\u00a0starting\u00a0in the fall of 2010.\u00a0To identify a causal relationship, the study uses natural disasters to explain variation in food prices. Interestingly,\u00a0the results\u00a0of\u00a0this study show that rising food prices lead to\u00a0increased risk of\u00a0protests, but that the effect is reverse for food price volatility.<\/p>\n
This is from an article<\/a>\u00a0in in Sweden’s\u00a0Axess Magasin<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Jesper Roine<\/a>, of the Stockholm School of Economics.<\/p>\n The original article is in Swedish — the above excerpt is brought to you in part by Google Translate. From the Wiki page for\u00a0Axess Magasin<\/em><\/a>, I conclude that it’s Sweden’s equivalent of The Atlantic<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A study\u00a0by Marc\u00a0F. Bellemare\u00a0(2011) studies the link\u00a0between\u00a0food prices\u00a0and\u00a0food-related protests and\u00a0riots.\u00a0The study\u00a0uses\u00a0the amount of\u00a0news\u00a0about\u00a0food riots\u00a0as a measure of\u00a0how widespread\u00a0protests\u00a0are\u00a0and relates these to monthly data\u00a0on\u00a0food prices.\u00a0This creates\u00a0a…<\/p>\n