The work at hand contributes to the ongoing discussion on drivers of food price volatility and closes the gap with respect to the impact of trade and storage policies. A dynamic panel is estimated to account for country fixed eects and the persistence of volatility. Findings underline the importance of international price volatility and transactions costs, while international volatility spill-overs are significantly higher in countries with high imports. New evidence is provided with respect to the impact of anti-cyclical trade policies: Accordingly, both exporters and countries that switch between net-importer and net-exporter successfully stabilize domestic prices by insulating themselves from international markets. On the other hand, regional market integration, as a tool to reduce reliance on (unstable) international trade and to improve stable regional trade relations, reduces volatility at domestic markets.
