Assessing the Net Import Welfare Impacts of the Rising Global Price of Food in Italy

Abstract

In Italy, as one of the developed countries, the agricultural sector is key in supplying food, food security and food safety. In this study, the amount and value of net imports for various foodstuffs in Italy was used. At first, compensatory price elasticities were calculated by using the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) and the effect of increasing the global price of food on net import welfare was studied. The results show that the welfare index of compensatory changes calculated for the entire food groups is 126.46 billion USD. Meat and beverage groups have the most and the least compensatory changes, respectively.