Welfare consequences of food prices increases: Evidence from rural Mexico
利用墨西哥农村微观数据，估计食品需求模型，分析食品价格上涨对贫困家庭福利的影响，并模拟有条件现金转移支付与价格补贴等政策的效果。
This paper presents an analysis of the welfare consequences of recent increases in food prices in Mexico using micro-level data. We estimate a QUAIDS model of demand for food, using data collected to evaluate the conditional cash transfer program Oportunidades. We show how the poor have been affected by the recent increases and changes in relative prices of foods. We also show how a conditional cash transfer program provides a means of alleviating the problem of increasing staple prices, and simulate the impact of such a policy on household welfare and consumer demand. We contrast this policy with alternative policy responses, such as price subsidies, which distort relative prices and are less well-targeted.