Urbanization is happening fast in the developing world and especially so in sub-Saharan Africa where growth rates of cities are among the highest in the world. While cities and, in particular, secondary towns, where most of the urban population in sub-Saharan Africa resides, affect agricultural...

In this paper we extend the traditional GARCH(1,1) model by including a functional trend term in the conditional volatility of a time series. We derive the main properties of the model and apply it to all agricultural commodities in the Mexican CPI basket, as well as to the international prices...

Der Handel mit Optionen gewinnt auf volatileren Agrarmärkten zunehmend an Bedeutung. Nun stellt sich die Frage, ob der Optionshandel ein sinnvolles Instrument zur Risikoabsicherung von Landwirten und Landhändlern darstellt oder ob er vielmehr ein Treiber der Agrarpreisvolatilität ist. Die...

Seit einiger Zeit gibt es eine sehr intensive Diskussion über die Wirkungen von Spekulationen mit Rohstoffen, insbesondere Agrarrohstoffen. Der vorliegende Aufsatz untersucht dies auf der Basis des aktuellen Forschungsstands. Zahlreiche Studien zeigen, dass sich mit Hilfe der Ökonometrie weder...

Der Handel mit Optionen gewinnt auf volatileren Agrarmärkten zunehmend an Bedeutung. Nun stellt sich die Frage, ob der Optionshandel ein sinnvolles Instrument zur Risikoabsicherung von Landwirten und Landhändlern darstellt oder ob er vielmehr ein Treiber der Agrarpreisvolatilität ist. Die...

Seit einiger Zeit gibt es eine sehr intensive Diskussion über die Wirkungen von Spekulationen mit Rohstoffen, insbesondere Agrarrohstoffen. Der vorliegende Aufsatz untersucht dies auf der Basis des aktuellen Forschungsstands. Zahlreiche Studien zeigen, dass sich mit Hilfe der Ökonometrie weder...

Supposed portfolio benefits of commodities and the increased availability of commodity linked investment products such as index funds contribute to a financialization of agricultural commodity markets. The parallel increase in price levels and short-term volatility for almost all major...

Es wird wissenschaftlich kontrovers diskutiert, ob kausal schlüssige und empirisch robuste Befunde für die Beeinflussung der "realen" Lebensmittelpreise durch Spekulanten vorliegen. Die korrelative Koinzidenz von ansteigender Terminmarktspekulation und einem steigenden Preisniveau lässt auf...

Introduction -- Setting the stage: key concepts and issues -- A historical review of multilaterally agreed criteria for action on commodity prices (1947-1989) -- From market intervention to free trade and back to managed trade (1989-2011) -- Beyond the impasse : towards a new normative approach...

"Modern" agricultural markets are characterized by, among other things, quality requirements and vertical coordination. The nature of the industrial organization of the value chain depends on a variety of factors, such as local institutions, economic growth, demand, institutional infrastructure...

Auf volatileren Agrarmärkten gewinnt der Handel mit Optionen zunehmend an Bedeutung. Optionen gestatten die einseitige Absicherung von Preisrisiken, z. B. nur gegen fallende Preise, und stellen ein zunehmend bedeutenderes Instrument für das Risikomanagement von Landwirten und Landhändlern...

This paper addresses to what extent governments have traded off price distortions for reduced volatility in intervening in agricultural and food markets during the recent food price spikes. We develop a model to derive how much distortions a government would introduce when it cares about...

Options trading is increasingly important in more volatile agricultural markets. Options allow for unilateral hedging of price risks, e. g. against falling prices only, and are an indispensable risk management instrument for farmers and grain dealers. Concerns that soaring options trading could...

For quite some time long-only index funds have been suspected of being responsible for price increases in agricultural futures markets. This suspicion has prompted demands to drastically limit long-only index funds' scope of activity. Such demands and their underlying diagnoses, however,...

There now exists a large literature on price transmission in agro-food sectors. However, a great majority of empirical studies focus on the existence of asymmetry and, by and large, do not allow investigating the reason for its presence or absence. This is in sharp contrast to the theoretical...

In this paper we aim to assess the mechanics of the global food price increases experienced in the recent years, most profoundly during the 2007-2008 food price spikes. At this stage, we aim to test, whether there is an empirically assessable relationship between World agricultural commodity...

Earlier research showed that during the 1980s and 1990s most of the global agricultural trade expansion took place among the industrial countries and among countries within trade blocs. These were also periods of declining agricultural prices. These prices increased during the 2000s, there were...

Earlier research showed that during the 1980s and 1990s most of the global agricultural trade expansion took place among the industrial countries and among countries within trade blocs. These were also periods of declining agricultural prices. These prices increased during the 2000s, there were...