David Hummels – författare

There has been an increase in food price instability in recent years, with varied consequences for farmers, market participants, and consumers. Before policy makers can design schemes to reduce food price uncertainty or ameliorate its effects, they must first understand the factors that have contributed to recent price instability. Does it arise primarily from technological or weather-related supply shocks, or from changes in demand like those induced by the growing use of biofuel? Does financial speculation affect food price volatility? The researchers who contributed to The Economics of Food Price Volatility address these and other questions. They examine the forces driving both recent and historical patterns in food price volatility, as well as the effects of various public policies in affecting this volatility. The chapters include studies of the links between food and energy markets, the impact of biofuel policy on the level and variability of food prices, and the effects of weather-related disruptions in supply. The findings shed light on the way price volatility affects the welfare of farmers, traders, and consumers.

New measures have opened up insights into the extent and complexity of global production networks. The chapters in this timely book deploy new tools to understand how global value chains change the nature of global economic interdependence, and to assess how that in turn changes our understanding of policies in this new environment.The authors bring to bear a wide variety of methodological tools and data, and perspectives ranging from the firm-level micro economy to the global macro economy. The book has two broad themes. The first is national economies' heightened exposure to adverse shocks (natural disasters, political disputes, recessions) elsewhere in the world as a result of greater integration and interdependence. The second theme is focused on the evolution of global value chains at the firm level and how this will affect competitiveness in Asia. It also traces the past and future development of production sharing in Asia.Employing an array of the latest methods and data to study global value chains, the book will prove a valuable resource for international organizations and regional bodies who have an active interest in anything related to global supply chain analysis. Researchers, academics and students in the fields of international trade and economics will also find its assessment of the evolution of global value chains at the firm level, and how this affects competitiveness in Asia, to be an insightful guide.Contributors: R.Baldwin, M. Chinn, H.Escaith, B.Ferrarini, R.Forslid, T.W. Hertel, D.Hummels, A.Levchenko, A.C. Ma, L.Puzzello, D.L. Swenson, P.A. Raschky, A.Van Assche, T.L. Walmsley, J.Zhang