The Causal Linkage between Energy Price and Food Price

Kirikkaleli, Dervis Ibrahim Darbaz

This paper aims to reveal the causal relationship between energy prices and food prices and whether this relationship is similar in the food sub-groups forming the food price index used. As food prices more than doubled during the 2008 economic crisis, this relationship has received considerable attention from researchers. Many researches have been conducted to determine the causes and consequences of the 2008 food price crisis. Researches are mainly focused on crude oil and bio-energy in terms of “energy”. This research is not only differentiated by the data used but also by the methodology employed. The study attempts to add new findings to the empirical food price literature by utilizing relatively newly developed methods, namely Toda–Yamamoto causality, Fourier Toda–Yamamoto causality, and spectral BC causality tests. The spectral BC causality test clearly reveals that there is bidirectional causality between the energy price index and food price indexes (grains, other food, and oils) at different frequencies.