Why Governments Should Stop Non-Social Subsidies : Measuring Their Consequences for Rural Latin America

The provision of public goods and the amelioration of market failure are the classical justifications for government intervention in the economy. In reality, (1) governments intervene in markets that are not affected by failure, and (2) a large share of the government resources is spent in private g...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: López, Ramón
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/05/5796546/governments-stop-non-social-subsidies-measuring-consequences-rural-latin-america
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8917
id okr-10986-8917
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-89172021-04-23T14:02:42Z Why Governments Should Stop Non-Social Subsidies : Measuring Their Consequences for Rural Latin America López, Ramón AGRICULTURE BENCHMARK CAPITAL GOODS CAPITAL MARKETS COMMODITIES CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE CORRUPTION CROWDING CROWDING OUT DEBT DECISION MAKING DEFORESTATION DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EFFECTS ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ECONOMIC EXPANSION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMIC POWER ECONOMICS ECONOMICS LITERATURE ECONOMISTS EFFICIENT MARKETS EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EMPIRICAL STUDIES EMPLOYMENT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION EVASION EXOGENOUS VARIABLES EXPECTED VALUE EXPORTS FINANCIAL RESOURCES GDP GDP PER CAPITA GOVERNMENT DEBT GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES HEALTH CARE HUMAN CAPITAL IMPORTS INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME TAXES INPUT PRICES LABOR FORCE LIQUIDITY MARKET FAILURES MARKET IMPERFECTIONS MARKET PRICES MONEY NATURAL RESOURCES OIL PER CAPITA INCOME POLICY RESEARCH POLITICIANS POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES PRICE CHANGES PRIVATE GOODS PRIVATE SECTOR PRODUCERS PRODUCTION FUNCTION PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH PROPERTY TAXES PUBLIC DEBT PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PUBLIC EXPENDITURES PUBLIC GOOD PUBLIC GOOD/PRIVATE PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PUBLIC POLICIES PUBLIC RESOURCES PUBLIC SECTOR PUBLIC/PRIVATE GOODS REAL WAGES ROADS RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE SANITATION SOCIAL SERVICES STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT SUPPLY TAX TAXATION TRADE POLICIES TRADEOFFS VALUE ADDED WEALTH The provision of public goods and the amelioration of market failure are the classical justifications for government intervention in the economy. In reality, (1) governments intervene in markets that are not affected by failure, and (2) a large share of the government resources is spent in private goods, not in public goods. In contrast to issue 1, issue 2 has received little attention in the literature, in spite of the potentially large efficiency and equity losses arising from misguided allocations of public expenditures. López empirically documents the size of (2) in the rural sector and investigates its consequences for rural development for 10 Latin American countries over the 1985-2000 period. The econometric evidence suggests that the structure of public expenditures is an important factor of economic development in the rural sector, much greater than that of the level of public expenditures and of other factors on which the development literature has traditionally focused. Expanding total public expenditure in rural areas while maintaining the existing public expenditure composition prevailing in certain countries does little to promote agricultural income and reduce rural poverty. Spending a significant share of government resources in (non-social) subsidies causes less agriculture income, induces an excessive reliance of agriculture on land expansion, and reduces the income of the rural poor. 2012-06-25T14:54:44Z 2012-06-25T14:54:44Z 2005-05 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/05/5796546/governments-stop-non-social-subsidies-measuring-consequences-rural-latin-america http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8917 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3609 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 Latin America & Caribbean Latin America
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic AGRICULTURE
BENCHMARK
CAPITAL GOODS
CAPITAL MARKETS
COMMODITIES
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE
CORRUPTION
CROWDING
CROWDING OUT
DEBT
DECISION MAKING
DEFORESTATION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC EFFECTS
ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY
ECONOMIC EXPANSION
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
ECONOMIC POWER
ECONOMICS
ECONOMICS LITERATURE
ECONOMISTS
EFFICIENT MARKETS
EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
EMPIRICAL STUDIES
EMPLOYMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
EVASION
EXOGENOUS VARIABLES
EXPECTED VALUE
EXPORTS
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
GDP
GDP PER CAPITA
GOVERNMENT DEBT
GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES
GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES
HEALTH CARE
HUMAN CAPITAL
IMPORTS
INCOME
INCOME DISTRIBUTION
INCOME TAXES
INPUT PRICES
LABOR FORCE
LIQUIDITY
MARKET FAILURES
MARKET IMPERFECTIONS
MARKET PRICES
MONEY
NATURAL RESOURCES
OIL
PER CAPITA INCOME
POLICY RESEARCH
POLITICIANS
POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES
PRICE CHANGES
PRIVATE GOODS
PRIVATE SECTOR
PRODUCERS
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PRODUCTIVITY
PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
PROPERTY TAXES
PUBLIC DEBT
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
PUBLIC EXPENDITURES
PUBLIC GOOD
PUBLIC GOOD/PRIVATE
PUBLIC GOODS
PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
PUBLIC POLICIES
PUBLIC RESOURCES
PUBLIC SECTOR
PUBLIC/PRIVATE GOODS
REAL WAGES
ROADS
RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE
SANITATION
SOCIAL SERVICES
STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT
SUPPLY
TAX
TAXATION
TRADE POLICIES
TRADEOFFS
VALUE ADDED
WEALTH
spellingShingle AGRICULTURE
BENCHMARK
CAPITAL GOODS
CAPITAL MARKETS
COMMODITIES
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE
CORRUPTION
CROWDING
CROWDING OUT
DEBT
DECISION MAKING
DEFORESTATION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC EFFECTS
ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY
ECONOMIC EXPANSION
ECONOMIC GROWTH
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
ECONOMIC POWER
ECONOMICS
ECONOMICS LITERATURE
ECONOMISTS
EFFICIENT MARKETS
EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
EMPIRICAL STUDIES
EMPLOYMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
EVASION
EXOGENOUS VARIABLES
EXPECTED VALUE
EXPORTS
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
GDP
GDP PER CAPITA
GOVERNMENT DEBT
GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES
GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES
HEALTH CARE
HUMAN CAPITAL
IMPORTS
INCOME
INCOME DISTRIBUTION
INCOME TAXES
INPUT PRICES
LABOR FORCE
LIQUIDITY
MARKET FAILURES
MARKET IMPERFECTIONS
MARKET PRICES
MONEY
NATURAL RESOURCES
OIL
PER CAPITA INCOME
POLICY RESEARCH
POLITICIANS
POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES
PRICE CHANGES
PRIVATE GOODS
PRIVATE SECTOR
PRODUCERS
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PRODUCTIVITY
PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
PROPERTY TAXES
PUBLIC DEBT
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
PUBLIC EXPENDITURES
PUBLIC GOOD
PUBLIC GOOD/PRIVATE
PUBLIC GOODS
PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
PUBLIC POLICIES
PUBLIC RESOURCES
PUBLIC SECTOR
PUBLIC/PRIVATE GOODS
REAL WAGES
ROADS
RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE
SANITATION
SOCIAL SERVICES
STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT
SUPPLY
TAX
TAXATION
TRADE POLICIES
TRADEOFFS
VALUE ADDED
WEALTH
López, Ramón
Why Governments Should Stop Non-Social Subsidies : Measuring Their Consequences for Rural Latin America
geographic_facet Latin America & Caribbean
Latin America
relation Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3609
description The provision of public goods and the amelioration of market failure are the classical justifications for government intervention in the economy. In reality, (1) governments intervene in markets that are not affected by failure, and (2) a large share of the government resources is spent in private goods, not in public goods. In contrast to issue 1, issue 2 has received little attention in the literature, in spite of the potentially large efficiency and equity losses arising from misguided allocations of public expenditures. López empirically documents the size of (2) in the rural sector and investigates its consequences for rural development for 10 Latin American countries over the 1985-2000 period. The econometric evidence suggests that the structure of public expenditures is an important factor of economic development in the rural sector, much greater than that of the level of public expenditures and of other factors on which the development literature has traditionally focused. Expanding total public expenditure in rural areas while maintaining the existing public expenditure composition prevailing in certain countries does little to promote agricultural income and reduce rural poverty. Spending a significant share of government resources in (non-social) subsidies causes less agriculture income, induces an excessive reliance of agriculture on land expansion, and reduces the income of the rural poor.
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author López, Ramón
author_facet López, Ramón
author_sort López, Ramón
title Why Governments Should Stop Non-Social Subsidies : Measuring Their Consequences for Rural Latin America
title_short Why Governments Should Stop Non-Social Subsidies : Measuring Their Consequences for Rural Latin America
title_full Why Governments Should Stop Non-Social Subsidies : Measuring Their Consequences for Rural Latin America
title_fullStr Why Governments Should Stop Non-Social Subsidies : Measuring Their Consequences for Rural Latin America
title_full_unstemmed Why Governments Should Stop Non-Social Subsidies : Measuring Their Consequences for Rural Latin America
title_sort why governments should stop non-social subsidies : measuring their consequences for rural latin america
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2012
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/05/5796546/governments-stop-non-social-subsidies-measuring-consequences-rural-latin-america
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8917
_version_ 1764407260147089408