Abstract
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, scholars and policymakers have all been alarmed by the potential impact of the food trade protectionist measures adopted by some countries. In this study, we use a regression discontinuity design in time approach to evaluate the impact of Vietnam rice export restriction policy during the pandemic on the price of imported rice in selected African urban centers. We found that the policy resulted in a 16.81% increase in the average price of a kilogram of imported rice in African urban centers. Our robustness check reveals that the depreciation of the USD may have acted as a buffer to prevent further increase in the price, that the oil price drop is unlikely to have an impact in the short run, and that for the DRC, several domestic factors have contributed alongside the export restriction to push the price up. We derive several policy recommendations.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Export Restrictions, Rice Price, Food Import-Dependent Developing Economies, Covid-19
