Distributional Effects of WTO Agricultural Reforms in Rich and Poor Countries

Rich countries' agricultural trade policies are the battleground on which the future of the WTO's troubled Doha Round will be determined. Subject to widespread criticism, they nonetheless appear to be almost immune to serious reform, and one of their most common defenses is that they prote...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Hertel, Thomas W., Keeney, Roman, Ivanic, Maros, Winters, L. Alan
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES ADVERSE IMPACTS AGGREGATE LEVEL AGGREGATE POVERTY AGGREGATE SUPPLY AGRICULTURAL LIBERALIZATION AGRICULTURAL POLICIES AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL SECTORS AGRICULTURAL SELF-EMPLOYMENT AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY AGRICULTURAL TRADE AGRICULTURE AVERAGE INCOMES BASE YEAR BENCHMARK BILATERAL TRADE COMPARABLE SKILLS COMPETITIVENESS CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE CONSUMER DEMAND CONSUMER PREFERENCES CONSUMER PRICES CONSUMERS CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR CONSUMPTION DATA CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE COUNTRY CASE DATA AVAILABILITY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DISTRIBUTION DATA DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS ECONOMETRIC MODELING ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMICS LITERATURE ELASTICITY ENGEL CURVES EQUILIBRIUM EXPORTS FACTOR PRICES FARM EMPLOYMENT FARM HOUSEHOLDS FARM INCOME FARM INCOMES FARM LABOR FARM PRICES FARM SECTOR FARM WORKERS FOOD PRICES FOREIGN EXCHANGE FULL EMPLOYMENT GDP GLOBAL ECONOMY GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS GOVERNMENT SUPPORT GROWTH RATE HEADCOUNT POVERTY HOUSEHOLD BUDGET HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD INCOMES HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INCOME LEVELS INCOME ON FOOD INCOME SHARE INCOME SHARES INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLDS INDUSTRIALIZATION INTERNATIONAL TRADE LABOR LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCES LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LAND LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS LONG RUN MILK MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION MULTILATERAL TRADE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS NATIONAL INCOME NATIONAL MODELS NATIONAL POVERTY NATIONAL POVERTY RATE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE LEVELS PER CAPITA INCOME PER CAPITA INCOME LEVELS PERFECT COMPETITION POLICY ANALYSIS POLICY CHANGE POLICY CHANGES POLICY INTERVENTION POLICY ISSUES POLICY MAKERS POLICY MEASURES POLICY REFORMS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLICY-MAKING PROCESS POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL PROCESS POOR POOR COUNTRIES POOR FARMERS POPULATION DATA POPULATION DENSITY POPULATION GROUP POST-REFORM POVERTY ASSESSMENT POVERTY LEVEL POVERTY LEVELS POVERTY LINE POVERTY LINES POVERTY OUTCOMES POVERTY RATE PRICE INCREASES PRICE LEVELS PRO-POOR PROGRESS RELATIVE IMPORTANCE RESPECT RICH COUNTRIES RURAL RURAL HOUSEHOLDS RURAL SECTORS RURAL WAGES SCALE EFFECTS SUBSISTENCE TOTAL POVERTY TRADE BARRIERS TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE POLICIES TRADE POLICY TRADE REFORMS UNSKILLED LABOR WAGE DIFFERENTIALS WEALTH WEALTH DISTRIBUTION WELFARE IMPACT WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/11/7186295/distributional-effects-wto-agricultural-reforms-rich-poor-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8963

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Summary:	Rich countries' agricultural trade policies are the battleground on which the future of the WTO's troubled Doha Round will be determined. Subject to widespread criticism, they nonetheless appear to be almost immune to serious reform, and one of their most common defenses is that they protect poor farmers. The authors' findings reject this claim. The analysis uses detailed data on farm incomes to show that major commodity programs are highly regressive in the United States, and that the only serious losses under trade reform are among large, wealthy farmers in a few heavily protected subsectors. In contrast, analysis using household data from 15 developing countries indicates that reforming rich countries' agricultural trade policies would lift large numbers of developing country farm households out of poverty. In the majority of cases these gains are not outweighed by the poverty-increasing effects of higher food prices among other households. Agricultural reforms that appear feasible, even under an ambitious Doha Round, achieve only a fraction of the benefits for developing countries that full liberalization promises, but protect U.S. large farms from most of the rigors of adjustment. Finally, the analysis indicates that maximal trade-led poverty reductions occur when developing countries participate more fully in agricultural trade liberalization.

Distributional Effects of WTO Agricultural Reforms in Rich and Poor Countries

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