Paul A. Dorosh

Public Policy, Markets and Household Coping Strategies in Bangladesh: Avoiding a Food Security Crisis Following the 1998 Floods

Abstract At their peak, the 1998 floods covered two-thirds of Bangladesh, causing severe damage to the major rice crop and threatening the food security of tens of millions of households. In this paper, we first highlight the contribution of government policy interventions, including trade liberalization in the early 1990s, to stabilization of rice markets during and after the flood. Then, using a panel data set covering 750 households in three rounds over a 13-month period, we analyze impacts of the flood on household assets, consumption and nutritional outcomes. Finally, we present empirical estimates of the contribution of rice market stabilization and government transfers to household food consumption.

Impacts of in-kind transfers on household food consumption: Evidence from targeted food programmes in Bangladesh

This article examines the impact of wheat transfers and cash incomes on wheat consumption and wheat markets. Using propensity score matching techniques, the MPC for wheat is on average 0.33, ranging form essentially zero for Food For Work (a programme with large transfers) to 0.51 for Food For Education. Econometric estimates indicate that the total marginal propensity to consume (MPC) wheat out of small wheat transfers to poor households is approximately 0.25, while MPCs for wheat out of cash income are near zero. This increase in demand for wheat reduces the potential price effect of the three major targeted programmes by about one-third.

FOOD PRICE STABILISATION AND FOOD SECURITY: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract The importance of food commodities to consumers and farmers leads most countries to attempt to influence the levels and stability of food prices. The specific policies adopted and the degree of price stabilisation actually achieved vary considerably across countries, however. This paper reviews the experience of four countries (China, India, Bangladesh and Madagascar) that have implemented explicit price stabilisation and food security policies. Several policy lessons emerge from the analysis, including the potential savings to be made through reliance on international trade rather than buffer stocks; the likelihood of efficiency gains from relying more heavily on market mechanisms; the need to maintain transparency of policies; and the high cost of untargeted public distribution programs.