Food price inflation and gender inequality in developing countries

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Abstract
This paper investigates the impact of food price inflation on gender inequality based on a panel dataset of 130 developing countries from 1990 to 2022. Applying the dynamic panel estimation techniques, including the system generalized method of moments (system GMM) and fixed-effects panel instrumental variable (panel IV) approaches, we find that food inflation significantly increases gender inequality, especially in areas such as education, labor market, health, and food security. The inflationary impact on gender inequality is strongest for staple food items like potatoes, wheat, and eggs, which are most fundamental to household consumption and care work activities typically performed by women. Since gender inequality, defined as the unequal distribution of resources, opportunities, and rights between men and women across key social and economic dimensions, is shaped by structural, cultural, and institutional factors, we further conduct heterogeneity analyses. The results reveal that poorer countries and African region are more exposed to the gendered effect of food price inflation, whereas countries with stronger institutional frameworks, such as those in OECD and Latin America, have a buffering influence. Synthetic control studies further show that the 2007–2008 food crisis had a more profound and long-lasting effect on gender inequality compared to the 2021–2022 food crisis, which was mainly driven by labor market differentials in female participation and wage earnings. These consistent results call for gender-responsive policy interventions to mitigate the adverse effects of food price inflation on gender inequality and shield women from escalating burdens induced by food inflation.

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