Agricultural Distortion Patterns since the 1950s : What Needs Explaining?

This paper summarizes a new database that sheds light on the impact of trade-related policy developments over the past half century on distortions to agricultural incentives and thus also to consumer prices for food in 75 countries spanning the per...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Anderson, Kym, Croser, Johanna, Sandri, Damiano, Valenzuela, Ernesto
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE VALUE ADVANCED ECONOMIES AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT AGRICULTURAL PRICE AGRICULTURAL PRICES AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL R&D AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AGRICULTURE BALANCE SHEETS COMMODITIES COMMODITY COMMODITY PRICE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES CONSTANT DOLLARS CONSUMER PRICES CONSUMERS CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS COUNTRY FIXED EFFECTS CROPS CURRENCY DATA AVAILABILITY DEREGULATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPING ECONOMIES DOLLAR VALUES DOMESTIC ECONOMY DOMESTIC MARKET DOMESTIC MARKETS DOMESTIC PRICE DOMESTIC PRICES DUMMY VARIABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMICS ELASTICITY EMERGING ECONOMIES EQUILIBRIA EQUILIBRIUM PRICE EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATES EXPENDITURE EXPORT SUBSIDIES EXPORT SUBSIDY EXPORTERS EXPORTS FARMERS FARMS FOOD PRICES FOOD PRODUCTS FOREIGN CURRENCY FOREIGN EXCHANGE FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET FREE MARKETS FREE TRADE GDP GDP PER CAPITA GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS GLOBAL ECONOMY GLOBAL EXPORTS GLOBAL OUTPUT GLOBALIZATION GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONS GROSS VALUE HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES IMPORT IMPORT PRICE IMPORT PROTECTION IMPORT RESTRICTIONS IMPORT TARIFF IMPORT TARIFFS IMPORT-SUBSTITUTING INDUSTRIALIZATION IMPORT-SUBSTITUTING INDUSTRIALIZATION STRATEGY IMPORTS INCOME GROUP INDUSTRIALIZATION INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS INTERNATIONAL MARKETS INTERNATIONAL PRICE INTERNATIONAL PRICES INTERNATIONAL TRADE INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICIES INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY ITC LAISSEZ FAIRE LEGAL CONSTRAINTS LESS DEVELOPED ECONOMIES LIVESTOCK LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MACROECONOMIC POLICY MARKET ACCESS MARKET ECONOMIES MARKET EQUILIBRIUM MARKET FORCES MULTILATERAL TRADE MULTIPLE EXCHANGE RATES NET EXPORTS OPEN ECONOMY PER CAPITA INCOME PER CAPITA INCOMES POLITICAL ECONOMY POVERTY REDUCTION PRICE COMPARISON PRICE COMPARISONS PRICE DISTORTION PRICE DISTORTIONS PRICE ELASTICITIES PRICE INCENTIVES PRICE SUPPORTS PRICES OF INPUTS PRICING POLICY PRIVATIZATION PRODUCER PRICES PUBLIC FUNDS PUBLIC INVESTMENT PUBLIC INVESTMENTS PURCHASE PRICE QUOTAS REAL GDP REGIONAL INTEGRATION RELATIVE PRICES RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE SOCIALIST ECONOMIES STANDARD DEVIATION STANDARD DEVIATIONS SUBSIDIZATION SUBSTITUTION TARIFF BARRIERS TAX TAXATION TRADABLE GOODS TRADE AGREEMENTS TRADE DATA TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADE POLICIES TRADE POLICY TRADE RESTRICTIONS TRADE TAX TRADE TAXES TRANSITION ECONOMIES URUGUAY ROUND VALUATION VALUE ADDED VOLATILITY VOLUME OF TRADE WEIGHTS WOOD WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS WORLD ECONOMY WORLD TRADE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/665961468334205439/Agricultural-distortion-patterns-since-the-1950s-what-needs-explaining http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28173

Description
Summary:	This paper summarizes a new database that sheds light on the impact of trade-related policy developments over the past half century on distortions to agricultural incentives and thus also to consumer prices for food in 75 countries spanning the per capita income spectrum. Price support policies of advanced economies hurt not only domestic consumers and exporters of other products but also foreign producers and traders of farm products, and they reduce national and global economic welfare. On the other hand, the governments of many developing countries have directly taxed their farmers over the past half-century, both directly (e.g., export taxes) and also indirectly via overvaluing their currency and restricting imports of manufactures. Thus the price incentives facing farmers in many developing countries have been depressed by both own-country and other countries' agricultural price and international trade policies. The authors summarize these and realted stylized facts that can be drawn from a new World Bank database that is worthy of the attention of political economy theorists, historians and econometricians. These indicators can be helpful in addressing such questions as the following: where is there still a policy bias against agricultural production? To what extent has there been overshooting in the sense that some developing-country food producers are now being protected from import competition along the lines of the examples of earlier-industrializing Europe and Japan? What are the political economy forces behind the more-successful reformers, and how do they compare with those in less-successful countries where major distortions in agricultural incentives remain? And what explains the pattern of distortions across not only countries but also industries and in the choice of support or tax instruments within the agricultural sector of each country?

Agricultural Distortion Patterns since the 1950s : What Needs Explaining?

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