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Global Distortions to Agricultural Markets: New Indicators of Trade and Welfare Impacts, 1955 to 2007

Author

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  • Lloyd, Peter J.
  • Croser, Johanna L.
  • Anderson, Kym

Abstract

Despite reforms over the past quarter-century, world agricultural markets remain highly distorted by government policies. Traditional indicators of those price distortions such as the nominal rate of assistance and consumer tax equivalent provide measures of the degree of intervention, but they can be misleading as indicators of the true effects of those policies. By drawing on recent theoretical literature that provides indicators of the trade- and welfare-reducing effects of price and trade policies, this paper develops more-satisfactory indexes for capturing distortions to agricultural incentives. It then exploits the Agricultural Distortion database recently compiled by the World Bank to generate estimates of them for both developing and high-income countries over the past half century, based on a sample of 75 countries that together account for all but one-tenth of the world’s population, GDP and agricultural production. While they are still only partial equilibrium measures, they provide a much better approximation of the true trade and welfare effects of sectoral policies without needing a formal model of global markets or even price elasticity estimates.

Suggested Citation

  • Lloyd, Peter J. & Croser, Johanna L. & Anderson, Kym, 2009. "Global Distortions to Agricultural Markets: New Indicators of Trade and Welfare Impacts, 1955 to 2007," 2009 Conference (53rd), February 11-13, 2009, Cairns, Australia 48049, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:aare09:48049
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.48049
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hiau LooiKee & Alessandro Nicita & Marcelo Olarreaga, 2009. "Estimating Trade Restrictiveness Indices," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(534), pages 172-199, January.
    2. Feenstra, Robert C., 1995. "Estimating the effects of trade policy," Handbook of International Economics, in: G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 30, pages 1553-1595, Elsevier.
    3. MacLaren, Donald & Lloyd, Peter J., 2008. "Measuring assistance to the agricultural industry in Australia using a Production Assistance Index," 2008 Conference (52nd), February 5-8, 2008, Canberra, Australia 6033, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    4. Kym Anderson & Will Martin, 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Asia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2611, December.
    5. Kym Anderson & William A. Masters, 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2607, December.
    6. Anderson, Kym & Kurzweil, Marianne & Martin, Will & Sandri, Damiano & Valenzuela, Ernesto, 2008. "Measuring distortions to agricultural incentives, revisited," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(4), pages 675-704, October.
    7. Anderson, James E. & Bannister, Geoffrey, 1992. "The trade restrictiveness index : an application to Mexican agriculture," Policy Research Working Paper Series 874, The World Bank.
    8. Hiau Looi Kee & Alessandro Nicita & Marcelo Olarreaga, 2008. "Import Demand Elasticities and Trade Distortions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 666-682, November.
    9. Johanna L. Croser & Peter J. Lloyd & Kym Anderson, 2010. "How Do Agricultural Policy Restrictions on Global Trade and Welfare Differ Across Commodities?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(3), pages 698-712.
    10. Valenzuela, Ernesto & Wong, Sara & Sandri, Damiano, 2007. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Ecuador," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 48394, World Bank.
    11. James E. Anderson & J. Peter Neary, 2005. "Measuring the Restrictiveness of International Trade Policy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262012200, December.
    12. Valenzuela, Ernesto & van der Mensbrugghe, Dominique & Anderson, Kym, 2008. "General equilibrium effects of price distortions on global markets, farm incomes and welfare," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 48630, World Bank.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anderson, Kym & Valenzuela, Ernesto, 2010. "Agricultural and trade policy reforms in Latin America: impacts on markets and welfare," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    2. Ralph G. Lattimore, 2019. "The Composition of New Zealand Exports 1989-2018," Working Papers in Economics 19/10, University of Waikato.
    3. Demirdöğen, Alper, 2011. "Tarımsal Korumacılık, Korumacılığın Ölçümü ve Türkiye [Agricultural Protectionism, Its Measurement and Turkey]," MPRA Paper 35083, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Lloyd , Peter, 2013. "Multilateralism is in Crisis," Journal of Money and Economy, Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, vol. 8(2), pages 67-102, April.
    5. Johanna L. Croser & Peter J. Lloyd & Kym Anderson, 2010. "How Do Agricultural Policy Restrictions on Global Trade and Welfare Differ Across Commodities?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(3), pages 698-712.
    6. Peter J. Lloyd & Johanna L. Croser & Kym Anderson, 2010. "Global Distortions to Agricultural Markets: Indicators of Trade and Welfare Impacts, 1960 to 2007," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 141-160, May.
    7. Kym Anderson & Johanna Croser, 2011. "Novel indicators of the trade and welfare effects of agricultural distortions in OECD countries," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(2), pages 269-302, June.
    8. Kym Anderson, 2009. "Krueger/Schiff/Valdes Revisited: Agricultural Price and Trade Policy Reform in Developing Countries since the 1980s," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2009-22, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    9. Anderson, Kym, 2009. "Krueger/Schiff/Valdés Revisited: Agricultural Price and Trade Policy Reform in Developing Countries since 1960," CEPR Discussion Papers 7601, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Anderson, Kym, 2009. "Political Economy of Distortions to Agricultural Incentives: Introduction and Summary," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 50306, World Bank.
    11. Anderson, Kym & Croser, Johanna L. & Sandri, Damiano & Valenzuela, Ernesto, 2009. "Agricultural Distortion Patterns Since the 1950s: What Needs Explaining?," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 50305, World Bank.
    12. Peter Lloyd, 2012. "The role of developing countries in global economic governance," Working Papers 11712, Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), an initiative of UNESCAP and IDRC, Canada..
    13. Peter Lloyd, 2011. "Free Trade And Growth In The World Economy," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 56(03), pages 291-306.
    14. Kym Anderson, 2010. "Global Distortions to Agricultural Markets: New Indicators of Trade and Welfare Impacts, 1960 to 2007," Centre for International Economic Studies Working Papers 2010-03, University of Adelaide, Centre for International Economic Studies.
    15. Croser, Johanna & Anderson, Kym, 2011. "Changing contributions of different agricultural policy instruments to global reductions in trade and welfare," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 297-323, July.
    16. Cletus C. Coughlin, 2010. "Measuring international trade policy: a primer on trade restrictiveness indices," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 92(Sep), pages 381-394.
    17. Marco, Lorena Tudela & Martinez-Gomez, Victor & Álvarez-Coque, José María García, 2014. "Is there a trade-off between NTMs and Tariff protection in Mediterranean countries?," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182838, European Association of Agricultural Economists.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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