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This pragmatic investigation examines the dynamic nexus between crude oil prices and food inflation from South and Southeast Asian perspectives.

This study investigates the asymmetric effects of global crude oil prices on food inflation using a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model with monthly data covering the period from May 2012 to April 2022.

The empirical evidence reveals that international crude oil has a substantial impact on food prices in the majority of countries. Additionally, the relevant outcome documents that the asymmetric effect of global crude oil on food inflation applies to Sri Lanka and Vietnam, while in the other countries, it is symmetric.

Considering the optimistic outcomes, this empirical investigation is certain to have important shortcomings. Initially, the conclusions drawn from the above findings were based only on detailed assessments of the aforementioned variables' data over a 10-year period. The current scholarly analysis investigates the existence of an asymmetric impact of crude oil on food inflation, limited to six Asian countries. On the other hand, considering a greater number of Asian economies could enhance the analysis’s robustness and precision.

The current research aims to contribute to the existing literature on food inflation and global oil prices in the following ways: First, this study investigates the nexus between global crude oil and food inflation in a novel way, considering the nonlinear relationship between the variables. To figure out the nonlinear relationship or uneven effect of the global oil shock on food prices, we use the nonlinear ARDL model. Secondly, as food inflation is one of the major issues for the South and Southeast Asian economies, this empirical investigation broadens the analysis by incorporating a perspective from South and Southeast Asia, an area largely overlooked by previous researchers. Finally, we are very optimistic about the phenomenal contribution of current analysis to comprehending the conception of oil and food price dynamics from a broader perspective to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which aims for a sustainable resolution to end hunger in all its forms by 2030 and to accomplish food security, especially in emerging economies.

We analyze the role of monetary policy shocks on food inflation in Hungary from January 2007 to March 2023, including the period of the COVID-19 crisis and the Russo–Ukrainian war.

We use quantile regression with three different specifications. The structural breaks in the time series and the monetary policy’s lag in response are also taken into account. We use the M0 money supply and the three-month Hungarian National Bank (MNB) deposit rate as monetary measures to check the robustness of our findings.

We find that neither the money supply nor the exchange rate affected food inflation across quantiles. In the case of high food price inflation, reducing short-term government bond yields may be an effective solution. Household final consumption affected food prices in the lower quantiles, and the global food price index similarly affected Hungarian food inflation. The results are robust to different specifications.

This research has limitations as follows: while Hungary’s food prices provide a valuable case study, expanding to more countries is advisable; although quantile regression captures details, its reliability for non-linear relationships is questionable; additionally, considering various global food price indicators can enhance result robustness.

The paper contributes to the longstanding political debate regarding the effectiveness of monetary policy in stabilizing food inflation. The findings emphasize the importance of considering both domestic and global factors in formulating policy responses to food price dynamics.

The study investigates the inter-linkages between geopolitical risk (GPR) and food price (FP).

By employing the bootstrap full- and sub-sample rolling-window Granger causality tests.

The empirical results show that there is a time-varying bidirectional causality between GPR and FP. High GPR leads to a rise in FP, suggesting that geopolitical events usually may disrupt supply and demand conditions in food markets, and even trigger global food crises. However, the negative effect of GPR on FP does not support this view in certain periods. This is mainly because GPR is also related to the global economic situation and oil price, which together have impacts on the food market. These results cannot always be supported by the inter-temporal capital asset pricing model, which states that GPR affects FP in a positive manner. Conversely, there is a positive impact of FP on GPR, indicating that the food market is an effective tool that can reflect global geopolitical environment.

In the context of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, these analyses can assist investors and policymakers to understand the sensitivity of FP to GPR. Also, it will provide significant revelations for governments to attach importance to the role of food price information in predicting geopolitical events, thus contributing to a more stable international environment.

This article investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumer preference for the attributes of online food delivery (OFD) services in India. It also shows how the order size influences the consumer's willingness to pay (WTP) for the attributes of OFD services.

This work incorporates a conjoint analysis-based approach to determine the consumer preference for the attributes of OFDs such as price, delivery time, restaurant rating and packing quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The fractional factorial design is applied for the data collection. The relative importance of the attributes and the part-worth utility of the attributes' levels have been determined. Further, the utility associated with the attributes' levels is used to find the consumer's WTP for different attributes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumer preference from price to food and packing quality in India. When the order is small, consumers exhibit a higher preference to the delivery time than packing quality. In contrast, consumers show a higher preference to packing quality than delivery time with the increase in order size. The consumer's WTP attains the highest level in case of food quality, followed by convenience and packing quality. The WTP for the attributes rises with the increase in order size.

The insights highlight the need for the online food delivery industry to redesign the business framework in the post-pandemic era. The hygiene and safety measures maintained by the consumers during the pandemic have significantly changed their purchasing behaviour, raising their preference for service quality (food and packing quality) of the OFD services apart from price.

This work determines the consumers' utility for each attribute level of OFDs, along with their relative importance. Moreover, this study contributes to the existing literature by exhibiting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumer preference and order size on consumer's WTP for the attributes.

The study endeavors to explore whether the financialization of agricultural commodities, traditionally viewed as a catalyst for price volatility, has any repercussions on food security in BRICS economies.

The empirical analysis employs the examination of three agricultural commodities, namely wheat, maize and soybean. Utilizing data from the Chicago Board of Trade on futures trading for these commodities, we focus on parameters such as annual trading volume, annual open interest contracts and the ratio of annual trading volume to annual open interest contracts. The study spans the period 2000–2021, encompassing pre- and post-financial crisis analyses and specifically explores the BRICS countries namely the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. To scrutinize the connections between financialization indicators and food security measures, the analysis employs econometric techniques such as panel data regression analysis and a moderating effects model.

The results indicate that the financialization of agricultural products contributes to the heightened food price volatility and has adverse effects on food security in emerging economies. Furthermore, the study reveals that the impact of the financialization of agricultural commodities on food security was more pronounced in emerging nations after the global financial crisis of 2008 compared to the pre-crisis period.

This paper seeks to draw increased attention to the financialization of agricultural commodities by presenting empirical evidence of its potential impact on food security in BRICS economies. The findings serve as a valuable guide for policymakers, offering insights to help them safeguard the security and availability of the world’s food supply.

Very few studies have explored the effect of financialization of agricultural commodities on food security covering a sample of developing economies, with sample period from 2000 to 2021, especially at the individual agriculture commodity level. Understanding the evolving effects of financialization is further improved by comparing pre and post-financial crisis times.

The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants impacting consumer behaviour in organic food consumption in Bangladesh. This study aims to identify the key factors facilitating organic food consumption and establish a framework by analysing their contextual relationships.

The study used interpretive structural modelling (ISM), relying on expert perspectives from experienced academicians and marketing professionals. A Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliqués à un Classement (MICMAC) analysis was performed to assess the driving forces and interdependencies among these determinants.

The MICMAC analysis grouped determinants influencing organic food purchases into four categories. The dependent factors, like attitude and food safety, showed moderate driving forces and high dependence. Linkage determinants, such as environmental concern and price, exerted considerable influence with moderate dependence. Independent variables, especially knowledge about organic food, had a strong impact with relatively low dependence.

This study’s insights offer valuable guidance for managers in the organic food industry, providing strategies to address consumer behaviour. Prioritising education on environmental benefits, transparent pricing, collaborating on policies, ensuring food safety and understanding determinants impacting purchase intent can aid in designing effective marketing strategies and product offerings aligned with consumer needs, ultimately promoting sustainability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the interconnections and relative significance of determinants influencing organic food purchases, using the ISM approach and MICMAC analysis. It delves into the previously unexplored territory of understanding the relationships and hierarchical significance of these determinants in shaping consumer behaviour towards organic food purchases.

While the monetary returns to education are well documented in the economics literature, the studies on non-monetary returns to education are scarce. The purpose of this study is to provide new insights into the non-market outcomes by exploring how education influences the food consumption choices of households and how these effects vary across different socio-economic groups using household-level calorie consumption data from Sri Lanka.

This study uses two waves of Household Income and Expenditure Surveys – 2006/2007 and 2016. The methods adopted in analysing the data were descriptive statistics and the OLS regression model.

The empirical results show that educated poor households pay less per calorie compared to non-educated poor households, highlighting the role of education in improving the ability to make better food choices and manage household budgets more economically.

This study informs policy-makers of the importance of education for formulating food and nutritional policies, which aim to raise the standard of living of resource-poor and vulnerable households in Sri Lanka as well as other developing countries with similar socio-economic conditions.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to explore the impact of education on the calorie consumption behaviour of people in the Sri Lankan context using nationwide household surveys.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2022-0007

This study aimed to measure the effects of the Russian–Ukrainian war on the value of imports and the food trade balance in Saudi Arabia.

Estimating the suggested model using econometric analysis for the years 1990–2021.

The amount of deficit increased in the food trade balance from 11.58 billion riyals in 1990 to 72.98 billion riyals in 2021. As for the increase in the index of food production by 10%, it leads to a decrease in the value of food imports for Saudi Arabia by 1.88%. Also, the value of the deficit in Saudi Arabia's food trade balance decreases by 5.24% as a result of a 10% rise in food exports to the country.

In light of the increase in the food price index to 145.8, the value of food imports and the deficit in the food trade balance exceed their counterparts in the current situation for the year 2021, at a rate of 37.1% and 44.5% for each respectively. In view of achieving huge financial surpluses as a result of the rise in oil prices, the Saudi Arabia is able to bear the high import bill and the amount of food trade balance deficit. Finally, the Russian–Ukrainian war leads to an increase in the cost of obtaining food commodities and their unavailability in the markets and thus affects the food security environment. Therefore, this study recommends the necessity of conducting more studies on the impact of the war on the food security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This study empirically investigated the different attributes (i.e. convenience, online reviews, online ratings, visual appeal and various food choices) of food delivery applications (FDAs) that impacted customers' perceived benefits, satisfaction and loyalty. Price consciousness was positioned as the moderator while customer satisfaction was positioned as the mediator.

Utilizing the purposive sampling technique, 360 useable respondents were gathered from existing FDAs' customers in China. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to verify the interrelationships among variables.

The results confirmed the significant impact of four FDA attributes (i.e. convenience, online ratings, visual appeal and various food choices) on perceived benefits. Customer satisfaction positively influenced loyalty. Moreover, the mediating role of customer satisfaction and the moderating role of price consciousness were confirmed.

FDA operators should engage in providing more benefits to stimulate satisfaction and loyalty among customers. Promotion discounts remain a key factor in enhancing the satisfaction and loyalty of price-conscious customers.

This study extends the applicability of the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework and enriches FDA literature by assessing the external stimuli, organisms and moderating factors that trigger customer loyalty.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to impact economic systems, with devastating consequences on livelihoods. Anecdotal evidence has predicted the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the livelihood of food system actors. Uganda experienced two lockdowns in March 2020 and June 2021 with varying government containment measures. During the first lockdown, fresh food market vending was deemed essential to meet urban food demand, and was consequently exempted from a total shutdown despite the ban on public and private transport. Thus, this study sought to examine the effect of COVID-19 containment measures on fresh food market vending businesses in Uganda.

Using primary data collected from fresh food market vendors, this study applied a pooled time-series estimation to examine the effect of the first lockdown COVID-19 containment measures on fresh food vendors' welfare.

The study revealed that COVID-19 had a significant negative impact on the income of fresh food vendors, with female vendors being the most affected. COVID-19 containment measures reduced the diversity of buyers, individual customers and the number of commodities traded in causing a greater impact on vendors' income.

The unavailability of data for vendors who did not return to the market at the time of data collection limits the scope of the study. Additionally, the absence of data for the second lockdown limited the analysis to only March 2020 lockdown period.

The empirical analysis highlights how vulnerabilities of different gender categories could be exacerbated by crises. The study provides empirical evidence of various market distortions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the disproportionate impact on women and men market vendors which calls for the need to integrate women's perspectives in future planning for market systems as well as advocating for gender-sensitive recovery responses.