Price Monitoring of Socially Significant Groceries: A Results Review of Two Research Waves

Abstract

The social stability problem and living standards of the poorest groups of the population largely depend on the level of food prices. An important question arises when the state is being involved in the process of food prices control: Will the market be able to stabilize the prices without assistance at a level affordable for the poor? In this article, the authors present the results of two waves of research of the changes in minimum retail prices for socially important food products in Russia. The obtained results show that the average minimum price for basic foods-the "market basket"-and their volatility reduce. Thus, the authors conclude that the economic crisis in Russia has slowed down. A comparative study of the monthly cost of the market basket for the poor was carried out based on the average prices obtained by the Federal