Disciplining Agricultural Support through Decoupling

Agricultural protection, particularly in high income countries, have induced overproduction, thereby depressing world commodity prices and reducing export shares of countries which do not support agriculture. One-and perhaps the only-effective way to bring a socially acceptable and politically feasi...

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Main Authors: Baffes, John, De Gorter, Harry
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/03/5643490/disciplining-agricultural-support-through-decoupling
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8883
id okr-10986-8883
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-88832021-04-23T14:02:42Z Disciplining Agricultural Support through Decoupling Baffes, John De Gorter, Harry ACCOUNTING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS AGRICULTURAL TRAINING AGRICULTURE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY BONDS BUDGETARY SUPPORT COAL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMERS CROPS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DIVERSIFIED OWNERSHIP DRAFTS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC COSTS ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMIC WELFARE ECONOMICS ECONOMISTS ELASTICITY ELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTION ELASTICITY OF SUPPLY ENTITLEMENTS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATE SYSTEMS EXPENDITURES FARMERS FARMS FINANCIAL MARKETS FOOD POLICY RESEARCH FREE MARKET PRICES FREE TRADE GDP GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT IMPORT BARRIERS IMPORTS INCOME INCOME INEQUALITIES INCOMES INEFFICIENCY INPUT USE INSURANCE INTEREST SUBSIDIES INTERNATIONAL TRADE LEASING LIVESTOCK MARKET FAILURES MARKETING MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES OUTPUTS OVERVALUED EXCHANGE RATES POLICY MAKERS POLLUTION PRESENT VALUE PRICE VARIATIONS PRODUCERS PRODUCTION PROCESS PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC GOODS RURAL COMMUNITIES RURAL DEVELOPMENT SAFETY SAFETY NET SAFETY NETS SETTLEMENT STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TOTAL COSTS TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADE POLICIES UNEMPLOYMENT URUGUAY ROUND WEALTH WTO Agricultural protection, particularly in high income countries, have induced overproduction, thereby depressing world commodity prices and reducing export shares of countries which do not support agriculture. One-and perhaps the only-effective way to bring a socially acceptable and politically feasible reform is to replace payments linked to current production levels, input use, and prices by payments which are decoupled from these measures. Overall, the experience with decoupling agricultural support has been mixed while the switch to less distortive support has been uneven across commodities and countries. Rules have changed with new decoupling programs added so expectations about future policies affect current production decisions. Time limits were not implemented and if so, were overruled. Ideally, compensation programs would be universal (open to all sectors in the economy, not just agriculture) or at least non-sector-specific within agriculture. A simple and minimally distorting scheme would be a one-time unconditional payment to everyone engaged in farming or deemed in need of compensation that is nontransferable, along the lines of one-time buyouts without remaining subsidies. To maintain government credibility and reduce uncertainty, eligibility rules need to be clearly defined and not allowed to change. The time period on which payments are based, the level of payments, and the sectors covered should all remain fixed. Support to specific sectors within agriculture should be in the form of taxpayer-funded payments. There should be no requirement of production. Land, labor, and any other input should not have to be in "agricultural use." 2012-06-22T21:03:48Z 2012-06-22T21:03:48Z 2005-03 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/03/5643490/disciplining-agricultural-support-through-decoupling http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8883 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3533 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ACCOUNTING
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS
AGRICULTURAL TRAINING
AGRICULTURE
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
BONDS
BUDGETARY SUPPORT
COAL
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
COMPETITIVENESS
CONSUMERS
CROPS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIVERSIFIED OWNERSHIP
DRAFTS
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
ECONOMIC COOPERATION
ECONOMIC COSTS
ECONOMIC RESEARCH
ECONOMIC WELFARE
ECONOMICS
ECONOMISTS
ELASTICITY
ELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTION
ELASTICITY OF SUPPLY
ENTITLEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
EXCHANGE RATE
EXCHANGE RATE SYSTEMS
EXPENDITURES
FARMERS
FARMS
FINANCIAL MARKETS
FOOD POLICY RESEARCH
FREE MARKET PRICES
FREE TRADE
GDP
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
IMPORT BARRIERS
IMPORTS
INCOME
INCOME INEQUALITIES
INCOMES
INEFFICIENCY
INPUT USE
INSURANCE
INTEREST SUBSIDIES
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
LEASING
LIVESTOCK
MARKET FAILURES
MARKETING
MULTILATERAL TRADE
NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES
OUTPUTS
OVERVALUED EXCHANGE RATES
POLICY MAKERS
POLLUTION
PRESENT VALUE
PRICE VARIATIONS
PRODUCERS
PRODUCTION PROCESS
PRODUCTIVITY
PUBLIC GOODS
RURAL COMMUNITIES
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
SAFETY
SAFETY NET
SAFETY NETS
SETTLEMENT
STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
TOTAL COSTS
TRADE NEGOTIATIONS
TRADE POLICIES
UNEMPLOYMENT
URUGUAY ROUND
WEALTH
WTO
spellingShingle ACCOUNTING
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS
AGRICULTURAL TRAINING
AGRICULTURE
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
BONDS
BUDGETARY SUPPORT
COAL
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
COMPETITIVENESS
CONSUMERS
CROPS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIVERSIFIED OWNERSHIP
DRAFTS
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
ECONOMIC COOPERATION
ECONOMIC COSTS
ECONOMIC RESEARCH
ECONOMIC WELFARE
ECONOMICS
ECONOMISTS
ELASTICITY
ELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTION
ELASTICITY OF SUPPLY
ENTITLEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
EXCHANGE RATE
EXCHANGE RATE SYSTEMS
EXPENDITURES
FARMERS
FARMS
FINANCIAL MARKETS
FOOD POLICY RESEARCH
FREE MARKET PRICES
FREE TRADE
GDP
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
IMPORT BARRIERS
IMPORTS
INCOME
INCOME INEQUALITIES
INCOMES
INEFFICIENCY
INPUT USE
INSURANCE
INTEREST SUBSIDIES
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
LEASING
LIVESTOCK
MARKET FAILURES
MARKETING
MULTILATERAL TRADE
NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES
OUTPUTS
OVERVALUED EXCHANGE RATES
POLICY MAKERS
POLLUTION
PRESENT VALUE
PRICE VARIATIONS
PRODUCERS
PRODUCTION PROCESS
PRODUCTIVITY
PUBLIC GOODS
RURAL COMMUNITIES
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
SAFETY
SAFETY NET
SAFETY NETS
SETTLEMENT
STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
TOTAL COSTS
TRADE NEGOTIATIONS
TRADE POLICIES
UNEMPLOYMENT
URUGUAY ROUND
WEALTH
WTO
Baffes, John
De Gorter, Harry
Disciplining Agricultural Support through Decoupling
relation Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3533
description Agricultural protection, particularly in high income countries, have induced overproduction, thereby depressing world commodity prices and reducing export shares of countries which do not support agriculture. One-and perhaps the only-effective way to bring a socially acceptable and politically feasible reform is to replace payments linked to current production levels, input use, and prices by payments which are decoupled from these measures. Overall, the experience with decoupling agricultural support has been mixed while the switch to less distortive support has been uneven across commodities and countries. Rules have changed with new decoupling programs added so expectations about future policies affect current production decisions. Time limits were not implemented and if so, were overruled. Ideally, compensation programs would be universal (open to all sectors in the economy, not just agriculture) or at least non-sector-specific within agriculture. A simple and minimally distorting scheme would be a one-time unconditional payment to everyone engaged in farming or deemed in need of compensation that is nontransferable, along the lines of one-time buyouts without remaining subsidies. To maintain government credibility and reduce uncertainty, eligibility rules need to be clearly defined and not allowed to change. The time period on which payments are based, the level of payments, and the sectors covered should all remain fixed. Support to specific sectors within agriculture should be in the form of taxpayer-funded payments. There should be no requirement of production. Land, labor, and any other input should not have to be in "agricultural use."
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author Baffes, John
De Gorter, Harry
author_facet Baffes, John
De Gorter, Harry
author_sort Baffes, John
title Disciplining Agricultural Support through Decoupling
title_short Disciplining Agricultural Support through Decoupling
title_full Disciplining Agricultural Support through Decoupling
title_fullStr Disciplining Agricultural Support through Decoupling
title_full_unstemmed Disciplining Agricultural Support through Decoupling
title_sort disciplining agricultural support through decoupling
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2012
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/03/5643490/disciplining-agricultural-support-through-decoupling
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8883
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