The Political Economy of Agricultural Price Distortions

This book seeks to improve our understanding of why societies adopt policies that distort agricultural prices.

Kym Anderson (Edited by)

9781107616271, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 August 2013

464 pages, 36 b/w illus. 61 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.68 kg

Review of the hardback: 'As an overall impression, this is a well-written and composed book on an important topic.' The Journal of World Trade Review

Despite numerous policy reforms since the 1980s, farm product prices remain heavily distorted in both high-income and developing countries. This book seeks to improve our understanding of why societies adopted these policies, and why some but not other countries have undertaken reforms. Drawing on recent developments in political economy theories and in the generation of empirical measures of the extent of price distortions, the present volume provides both analytical narratives of the historical origins of agricultural protectionism in various parts of the world and a set of political econometric analyses aimed at explaining the patterns of distortions that have emerged over the past five decades. These new studies shed much light on the forces affecting incentives and those facing farmers in the course of national and global economic and political development. They also show how those distortions might change in the future.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Understanding government interventions in agricultural markets Kym Anderson
2. Agricultural distortion patterns since the 1950s: what needs explaining Kym Anderson, Johanna Croser, Damiano Sandri and Ernesto Valenzuela
Part II. Conceptual Frameworks and Historical Origins: 3. Political economy of agricultural distortions: the literature to date Johan Swinnen
4. Special interests versus the public interest in policy determination Gordon Rausser and Gérard Roland
5. Anglo-French trade, 1689–1899: agricultural trade policies, alcohol taxes and war John Nye
6. Agricultural protection growth in Europe, 1870–1969 Johan Swinnen
7. Determinants of farm policies in the United States, 1996–2008 David Orden, David Blandford and Tim Josling
8. Agricultural distortions in the transition economies of Asia and Europe Scott Rozelle and Johan Swinnen
Part III. Political Econometrics: The Past Fifty Years: 9. Agricultural price distortions and stabilization Will Masters and Andres Garcia
10. Which governments tax or subsidize agricultural trade? Kishore Gawande and Bernard Hoekman
11. Impacts of ideology, inequality, lobbying and public finance Pushan Dutt and Devashish Mitra
12. Agricultural trade interventions in Africa Robert Bates and Steven Block
13. Do trade agreements reduce the volatility of agricultural assistance rates? Olivier Cadot, Marcelo Olarreaga and Jeanne Tschopp
14. Constitutional rules and agricultural policy outcomes Alessandro Olper and Valentina Raimondi
Appendix. Coverage and distribution of assistance across countries and products, 1955–2007 Kym Anderson and Johanna Croser.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Development economics & emerging economies [KCM], Economic growth [KCG], Economics, finance, business & management [K]