About Me

Associate Professor of Economics, University of Sydney

E-Mail: david.ubilava@sydney.edu.au

Twitter: @DavidUbilava

Substack: TheGuessProject

My primary research area is agricultural economics with interests in commodity markets and price analysis. I have established an international reputation for my research that applies granular data to study fundamental societal issues that cause or are consequences of global commodity price movements. Specifically, I have studied the role of climate shocks on commodity price dynamics, and I have examined the relationship between commodity prices and political violence in conflict-prone economies.

My research has been published in leading field and interdisciplinary journals such as American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Health Economics, World Development, and Global Environmental Change, among others. As of 29 November 2023, my research has received 973 citations as per Google Scholar.

For my teaching, I have won the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Excellence Award in 2017.

I currently serve as an associate editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (from 2022), and as a co-editor of Food Policy (from 2018). Previously, I served as an associate editor of the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (from 2020 to 2021).

Popular writing:

• Harvest season is also peak time for conflict in rural societies
• What this year’s El Niño means for wheat and global food supply
• Russia’s war on Ukraine is driving up wheat prices and threatens global supplies of bread, meat and eggs
• So you think economic downturns cost lives? Our findings show they don’t

Recent presentations:

• Climate, Crops, and Postharvest Conflict
• Agricultural Shocks and Social Conflict in Southeast Asia
• War in Ukraine and Disrupted Markets
• Agricultural Windfalls and the Seasonality of Political Violence in Africa
• Academic Presenting: How to Get It Right and Make It Work