Do the Malthusian fears ever die? A note on the recent increase in food prices

• Tipo: Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional
• Data: 2008

Autores

Argentino Pessoa (Autor) FEP

Revista

Título: Economics Bulletin

Vol. 17

Páginas: 1-11

ISSN: 1545-2921

Editora: Economics Bulletin

Indexação

Scopus

Econlit

Classificação Científica

FOS: Ciências sociais > Economia e gestão

CORDIS: Ciências Sociais

Outras Informações

Abstract (EN): Beginning with a snapshot of the recent raise in food prices, the present paper put in question the hypothesis of it be a response to the near end of resources. Examining some medium and long-run factors that explain the evolution of food production, with special focus on cereals, using data of the World Bank for the last 45 years, and a regression for a cross-section of 106 countries, we show that: a) the capacity to feed a growing population has been associated to a sustained increase in productivity, measured by the cereal yields; b) the increase in cereal yields is negatively associated to the increase in land under cereal production; c) there is large room to go on increasing cereal production and productivity in low and middle-income countries, profiting from the productivity gap that differentiate them from the high-income countries. So, the main conclusion is that the Limits to Grow’ perspective and the associated Malthusian fears have no empirical support.

Idioma: Inglês

Tipo (Avaliação Docente): Científica