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Freeing up Food: The Ongoing Cost, and Potential Reform, of Supply Management

Author

Listed:
  • William B.P. Robson

    (C.D. Howe Institute)

  • Colin Busby

    (C.D. Howe Institute)

Abstract

Government-mandated cartels in eggs, dairy and poultry products impose high costs on consumers and harm Canada’s standing in international trade. The authors offer compelling evidence of the high costs to Canadian consumers and limited benefits to farmers arising from the supply management system. The study recommends phasing out Canada’s controversial supply management system through sales of new quota for the production and sale of these products.

Suggested Citation

  • William B.P. Robson & Colin Busby, 2010. "Freeing up Food: The Ongoing Cost, and Potential Reform, of Supply Management," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 128, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdh:backgr:128
    as

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    File URL: https://www.cdhowe.org/freeing-food-ongoing-cost-and-potential-reform-supply-management
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Donald N. Dewees, 2010. "The Price Isn't Right: The Need for Reform in Consumer Electricity Pricing," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 124, January.
    2. Philippe Bergevin, 2010. "Change is in the Cards: Competition in the Canadian Debit Card Market," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 125, February.
    3. Richard Barichello & John Cranfield & Karl Meilke, 2009. "Options for the Reform of Supply Management in Canada with Trade Liberalization," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 35(2), pages 203-217, June.
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    5. John Stapleton, 2010. "Down but Not Out: Reforming Social Assistance Rules that Punish the Poor for Saving," e-briefs 93, C.D. Howe Institute.
    6. William B.P. Robson, 2010. "Cutting Through Pension Complexity: Easy Steps Forward for the 2010 Federal Budget," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 126, February.
    7. Colin Busby & William B.P. Robson & Pierre-Marcel Desjardins, 2009. "Stress Test: Demographic Pressures and Policy Options in Atlantic Canada," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 120, November.
    8. Michael Parkin, 2010. "How Soon? How Fast? Interest Rates and Other Monetary Policy Decisions in 2010," e-briefs 92, C.D. Howe Institute.
    9. Pierre Siklos, 2010. "Taking Monetary Aggregates Seriously," e-briefs 94, C.D. Howe Institute.
    10. Benjamin Dachis, 2009. "A Clean Canada in a Dirty World: The Cost of Climate-Related Border Measures," e-briefs 90, C.D. Howe Institute.
    11. Lawrence L. Herman, 2007. "American Corn and Canadian Trade Actions: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back," e-briefs 42, C.D. Howe Institute.
    12. Alexandre Laurin & William B.P. Robson, 2009. "Supersized Superannuation: The Startling Fair-Value Cost of Federal Government Pensions," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 122, December.
    13. David Johnson, 2007. "School Grades: Identifying Alberta’s Best Public Schools," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 104, September.
    14. Lawson A.W. Hunter, Q.C. & Edward Iacobucci & Michael J. Trebilcock, 2010. "Scrambled Signals: Canadian Content Policies in a World of Technological Abundance," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 301, January.
    15. Bill Dymond & Michael Hart, 2008. "Navigating New Trade Routes: The rise of Value chains, and the Challenges for Canadian Trade Policy," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 259, March.
    16. Alexandre Laurin & William B.P. Robson & Colin Busby & Finn Poschmann, 2010. "Back to Balance: A Shadow Federal Budget for 2010," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 127, February.
    17. Bev Dahlby, 2009. "Once on the Lips, Forever on the Hips: A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Fiscal Stimulus in OECD Countries," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 121, December.
    18. Colin Busby, 2010. "Supporting Employees who Deploy: The Case for Financial Assistance to Employers of Military Reservists," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 123, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Schwanen, 2011. "Go Big or Go Home: Priorities for the Canada-EU Economic and Trade Agreement," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 143, October.
    2. Lawrence L. Herman, 2010. "Trend Spotting: NAFTA Disputes After Fifteen Years," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 133, July.
    3. John Richards, 2010. "Reducing Lone-Parent Poverty: A Canadian Success Story," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 305, June.
    4. Robert Knox, 2010. "Who Can Work Where: Reducing Barriers to Labour Mobility in Canada," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 131, June.
    5. Martin Cave & Adrian Foster, 2010. "Solving Spectrum Gridlock: Reforms to Liberalize Radio Spectrum Management in Canada in the Face of Growing Scarcity," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 303, May.
    6. Jan Carr, 2010. "Power Sharing: Developing Inter-Provincial Electricity Trade," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 306, July.
    7. Colin Busby & Daniel Schwanen, 2013. "Putting the Market Back in Dairy Marketing," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 374, March.
    8. Finn Poschmann & Philippe Bergevin, 2013. "Reining in the Risks: Rethinking the Role of Crown Financial Corporations in Canada," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 372, February.
    9. Philippe Bergevin, 2010. "Addicted to Ratings: The Case for Reducing Governments’ Reliance on Credit Ratings," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 130, May.
    10. Benjamin Dachis & Robert Hebdon, 2010. "The Laws of Unintended Consequence: The Effect of Labour Legislation on Wages and Strikes," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 304, June.
    11. Cairns, Alexander P. & Meilke, Karl D. & Bennett, Nicholas, 2010. "Supply Management and Price Ceilings on Production Quota Values: Future or Folly?," Annual Meeting, 2010, Denver Colorado, July 25-27 61524, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.
    12. Alex W. Chernoff, 2015. "Between a cap and a higher price: Modelling the price of dairy quotas under price ceiling legislation," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 48(4), pages 1403-1429, November.
    13. Alex W. Chernoff, 2015. "Between a cap and a higher price: Modelling the price of dairy quotas under price ceiling legislation," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 48(4), pages 1403-1429, November.
    14. Colin Busby & William B.P. Robson, 2010. "Target Practice Needed: Canada’s 2010 Fiscal Accountability Rankings," C.D. Howe Institute Backgrounder, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 129, May.
    15. Robert Mysicka & Marty McKendry, 2013. "Beer, Butter, and Barristers: How Canadian Governments Put Cartels before Consumers," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 382, May.
    16. Dave Sawyer & Carolyn Fischer, 2010. "Better Together? The Implications of Linking Canada-US Greenhouse Gas Policies," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 307, August.
    17. Alexandre Laurin & William B.P. Robson, 2011. "A Faster Track to Fiscal Balance: The 2011 Shadow Budget," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 320, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Governance and Public Institutions; Canadian agriculture; supply management policy; agricultural production quotas;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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