The corn tortilla: a national price increase and its symbolism in the context of social differentiation in urban area of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

This article analyzes the impact of the rising price of tortillas in low to high income households in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. Based on field data, the study states that the tortilla is a Giffen good for poor urban households. A Giffen good is a characteristic of a product which states t...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: López Arévalo, Jorge, Sovilla, Bruno, Martínez Velasco, Germán
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE CHIAPAS
Repositorio:Revista Espacio I+D Innovación más Desarrollo
Idioma:español
inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.espacioimasd.unach.mx:article/63
Acceso en línea:https://www.espacioimasd.unach.mx/index.php/Inicio/article/view/63
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Tortillas
Giffen
Chiapas
Cultura
culture
Descripción
Sumario:This article analyzes the impact of the rising price of tortillas in low to high income households in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas. Based on field data, the study states that the tortilla is a Giffen good for poor urban households. A Giffen good is a characteristic of a product which states that as the price increases, demand does not diminish but rather increases. This contradicts the law of demand that states that the consumption of a product decreases relative to an increase in its price. In this sense, in the sociocultural context of a federal entity such as Chiapas, the process of growing indigenous urbanization has brought a separation from the primary means of food production, which is land. This study confirms that it is the poor and urban indigenous population which is greatly affected, since they have a higher Giffen behavior of a greater consumption of tortillas despite an increase in price due to the cultural character that the tortilla represents.