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Cited by 27Economics of Agriculture and Food MarketsMarket Dynamics and VolatilityPolitical Economy and Marxism

The Financialization of Food and the 2008–2011 Food Price Spikes

Field, Sean·2016·Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
DOI 10.1177/0308518x16658476
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Abstract

The treatment of recent global food price volatility in the neoclassical academic literature is problematic in its limited conceptual and empirical scope. This study presents new empirical data and analysis linking financial speculation by index swap dealers (‘index funds’) with US and global food price volatility. Marxian circuits of capital are used to illustrate the connection between index funds and food consumers. The findings show that financial speculation by index swap dealers and hedge funds significantly contributed to the price volatility of food commodities between June 2006 and December 2014. The key conceptual contribution is that it articulates geographical economic interpretation of food price volatility and financial speculation in a literature awash with neoclassical economic analyses.

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  • During the food price spikes observed between 2008 and 2011, hedge funds were implicated in exacerbating price volatility through speculative trading in futures markets.

    “For instance, during the food price spikes observed between 2008 and 2011, hedge funds were implicated in exacerbating price volatility through speculative trading in futures markets.”

    From Food Financialization: Impact of Derivatives and Index Funds on Agri-Food Market Volatility (2024) · cites this paper as Field 2016

  • Financialization of food markets has had profound implications, particularly for vulnerable populations in developing regions, where food security is critically impacted by price volatility driven by financial actors.

    “This financialization of food markets has had profound implications, particularly for vulnerable populations in developing regions, where food security is critically impacted by price volatility driven by financial actors”

    From Food Financialization: Impact of Derivatives and Index Funds on Agri-Food Market Volatility (2024) · cites this paper as Field 2016

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Authors
Field, S.
Affiliations
Queen's University (CA)
Corresponding author
Field, Sean
Venue
Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2016-07-28
Volume
48
Issue
11
Pages
2272-2290
ISSN
  • 0308-518X (ISSN-L)
  • 1472-3409
DOI
10.1177/0308518x16658476
OpenAlex
W2469590103
Cited by
27
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
FWCI
4.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Environment and Planning A Economy and Space (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economics of Agriculture and Food Markets
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Market Dynamics and Volatility
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Economy and Marxism
Keywords
food price volatility, financial speculation, index funds, hedge funds, food commodities, critique of neoclassical economics, geographical economics

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