Financial Risk and Market Speculation: Impact of Fuel Price Stabilization and Price Bands on the Purchasing Power of Ecuadorian Households (2022–2026)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70577/f4t7dm48Keywords:
Subsidies, Price Stabilisation, Market Speculation, Purchasing Power, Household Financial Risk, Applied Econometrics.Abstract
The present study analyses the impact of the progressive elimination of low-octane fuel subsidies—specifically Extra and Ecopaís petrol—as well as the implementation of the price band and stabilisation system on the purchasing power of Ecuadorian households between 2022 and 2026. To this end, employing a quantitative-correlational approach based on 54 monthly observations from INEC, ARCH/EP Petroecuador, and MAG-SIPA, the study evaluates inflationary transmission (pass-through) within the food segment. Over this period, the general CPI increased from 107.20 to 116.05, the CPI for Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose from 107.81 to 121.55, and the Basic Family Basket climbed from USD 724.39 to USD 824.85, reaching its peak in March 2026 at USD 829.38. The econometric model demonstrates that an increase or surge in fuel prices exerts a significant impact on the food CPI, evidencing an overreaction driven by expectations. It further reveals that the cost fluctuations passed on to the end consumer correspond largely to speculative margins introduced by wholesale intermediation chains rather than real operational variations in freight costs. The public policies implemented seek to mitigate these logistically driven cost asymmetries.
Downloads
References
Jaramillo-Cartwright, M. J., Mafla-Viscarra, A., Izurieta, N., Barnett, D. J., Hsu, E. B., & Grunauer, M. (2025). Characterizing Mental Health in an LMIC Context: Measuring Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Health Care Providers in Ecuador During COVID-19 with the ProQOL V5 Questionnaire. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 19, e109. doi:10.1017/dmp.2025.114.
Castro Galeano, D., Ortiz Noguera, C. D., & Palacios Escobar, D. G. (2020). La atención humanizada del grupo clown: Un acercamiento desde la percepción de los estudiantes de 11° de la Institución Educativa Antonio García Paredes de la ciudad de Popayán [Trabajo de grado de pregrado, Fundación Universitaria de Popayán]. Repositorio institucional.
Campos P. (2016). Estudio sobre la fatiga de compasión, satisfacción por compasión y Burnout en profesionales que trabajan con alumnos con trastorno grave de conducta. [Disertación]. Madrid: Universidad Pontificia Comillas.
Medina-Arias, K. M. (2020). Nivel de satisfacción y fatiga por compasión del personal del 911. Horizonte Sanitario, 19(3). https://doi.org/10.19136/hs.a19n3.3639
Gamez Ibarra, N., Ortiz Mancera, M. O., & Lemus Ortíz, L. A. (2022). El clown comunitario y el bienestar psicológico. SOCIAL REVIEW. International Social Sciences Review Revista Internacional De Ciencias Sociales, 11(1), 47–57. https://doi.org/10.37467/gkarevsocial.v11.2445
Gray, J., Donnelly, H. & Gibson, B.E. (2021) Seriously Foolish and Foolishly Serious: The Art and Practice of Clowning in Children’s Rehabilitation. J Med Humanit 42, 453–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-019-09570-0
Perceguina, I., Alcântara, I., & Gonzalez, A. J. (2023). Clown doctors in the Lento Tempo of pediatric oncology: A dialogue between psychology and art on the meaning of an encounter when life meaning is disrupted. Preprints.org. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.0377.v1
Ramos, B. S., Dantas, A. M. O., Zago, L. B. S., Costa, A. C. S. M., & Sousa, D. S. (2022). Satisfação profissional no contexto hospitalar e a atuação humanizada de doutores palhaços. Research, Society and Development, 11(17), e48111733389. https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v11i17.33389
Cuervo Geijo, M. E. (2013). Pedagogía del humor y la fantasía en el hospital a través del clown. Payasos de hospital [Trabajo de fin de grado, Universidad de Valladolid]. Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid. http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/4269
Carvajal, A. F., Galvis, M. A. & Ruiz, D. M. (2020). Perfil de salud mental de los voluntarios clown pertenecientes a las Fundaciones Doctora Clown y Corazón en Parches. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12749/11964
Carvajal Castellanos, A. F., Galvis Hernández, M. A., & Ruiz Jaimes, D. M. (2020). Perfil de salud mental de los voluntarios clown pertenecientes a las fundaciones Doctora Clown y Corazón en Parches [Trabajo de grado de pregrado, Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga]. Perfil de salud mental de los voluntarios clown pertenecientes a las Fundaciones Doctora Clown y Corazón en Parches
Khoury, L., Shwartz Naddam, I., Paz Tzruia, M., Shehadeh, S., Konopnicki, M., Hamad Saied, M., Meiri, N., Livnat, G., & Yaacoby-Bianu, K. (2024). Medical clown intervention shortens length of hospitalization in children with pneumonia. Scientific Reports, 14, 20188. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-70852-y
Kuduzović, J., Roessler, M., De Faveri, S., & Hebesberger, D. V. (2026). Healthcare clowning in a paediatric allergology department: Perspectives of children, their parents, medical staff, and clown artists. Arts & Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2026.2629437
Mondragón Tobón, D. D., & Parra Vélez, M. J. (2023). Significado y transformaciones que el clown ha permitido en la vida de las personas que lo practican [Trabajo de investigación de semillero, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira]. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Exactas y Naturales. Significado y transformaciones que el Clown ha permitido en la vida de las personas que lo practican
Neumark, Y., Bar-Lev, A., Barashi, D., & Benenson, S. (2022). A feasibility study of the use of medical clowns as hand-hygiene promoters in hospitals. PLoS ONE, 17(12), e0279361. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279361
Valdebenito Mac Farlane, V. (2021). Percepciones de un equipo de cuidados paliativos pediátricos acerca del clown de hospital. Acta Bioethica, 27(2), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.4067/S1726-569X2021000200201
Hernández Sampieri, R., & Mendoza, C. P. (2018). Metodología de la investigación: Las rutas cuantitativa, cualitativa y mixta. McGraw-Hill Education.
Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.2307/3090197
Cañizalez M., M. Á., & Acevedo B., M. (2022). Confiabilidad y validez del cuestionario de fatiga de compasión y satisfacción (ProQOL-IV) en voluntariado hospitalario. Revista de Psicología de la Universidad de Panamá, 1(1), 1–17. https://revistas.up.ac.pa/index.php/redepsic/article/view/3094/2757
Peña Contreras, E. K., Lima Castro, S. E., Bueno Pacheco, G. A., Aguilar Sizer, M. E., Keyes, C. L. M., & Arias Medina, W. P. (2017). Fiabilidad y validez de la Escala del Continuum de Salud Mental (MHC-SF) en el contexto ecuatoriano. Ciencias Psicológicas, 11(2), 223–232. https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v11i2.1499
Stamm, B. H. (2010). Professional Quality of Life: Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue Subscales (ProQOL), Version IV. ProQOL.org. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/dfc1e1a0-a1db-4456-9391-18746725179b/downloads/Spanish.pdf
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Abg. Michael Alexander López Cáceres, Brandon Johao Apunte Núñez, Mg. Lorena Verónica Montenegro Echeverría (Autor/a)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
