Food one click away: The impact of online food delivery platforms on food security in Indonesia

Abstract

This paper examines the causal effects of online food delivery (OFD) platforms on household food security in the context of a developing country, Indonesia. We construct food security data from households consumption surveys from 2012 to 2022 and merged it with a novel dataset on OFD platform penetration across districts, compiled through a combination of internet scraping and machine learning. Utilizing a contemporary event-study estimator to analyze the impact, our findings indicate that the expansion of OFD services enhances food security at the district level, with a more pronounced effect in rural areas, among younger households, and male-led households. We also show that this impact is likely driven by increased competition in the food market.