Books

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives: A Global Perspective, 1955-2007 
by Kym Anderson, October 2009
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The fifth and last volume in the Distortions to Agricultural Incentives series focus on distortions to agricultural incentives from a global perspective.

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives series brings together analytical narratives of the evolution over the past half-century of policy-imposed distortions to farmer incentives and food prices in 80 countries, drawing on new, consistent set of estimates spanning 90 percent of the world's agricultural markets. The first two titles in the series focus on Europe's transitional economies and Latin America. Other forthcoming titles in this series will focus on Africa and Asia.

Fateful Allure of Protectionism

The world is facing the most severe global economic crisis since the Great Depression
of the 1930s. For the first time since World War II, world GDP is expected to decline,
and growth in developing countries is expected to fall to 1.2% from 5.9% in 2008.
Trade has declined as well: global trade volumes are expected to fall by some 10% in
2009; the worst decline in trade since the 1930s. Governments have responded to the
crisis with policies to support economic activity and employment. Efforts have been
made to coordinate these policy responses, in particular to maintain an open trade
regime. The systemic risks of a resort to protectionist policies are generally recognized
by world leaders: at their April Summit in London, they committed to refrain from
raising new barriers and to minimize any negative impact on trade and investment of
domestic policy responses to the crisis.

This volume reviews the current value of preference programs of major OECD countries for beneficiary countries, assesses the implications of preference erosion under different global liberalization scenarios, and discusses potential policy responses. Contributions to the volume provide detailed analyses of specific preference programs and undertake cross-country, disaggregated analyses of the impact of preferences at the product level. Understanding the likely impacts and how those impacts are distributed is a precondition for formulating appropriate policy responses to preference erosion. A case is made that such responses need to focus on enhancing the competitiveness and supply side capacity of developing countries.

Breaking Into New Markets: Emerging Lessons for Export Diversification

Since the 1950s when countries became concerned that specialization in primary products would lead to steady falls in the purchasing power of primary exports and slow growth, diversifying out of primary products into manufactures has been a major policy objective of developing countries. Indeed, since that time, developing countries generally have become more diversified, but many low income countries remain dependent on a narrow range of primary products.

New questions concerning export diversification have emerged in the recent literature - and with important policy implications:

• Is export diversification a natural structural outcome of the growth process itself, or can countries accelerate growth through active attention to diversifying exports?
• What are the main constraints that prevent countries from diversifying - is it market failures that lead to private underinvestment in efforts to reach new export markets or is it associated with other market failures?
• What policies are most suitable for countries to promote diversification - and should governments seek to stimulate export products with particular characteristics?

This book explores new thinking and evidence about export diversification, and elaborates on policies to promote diversification. The papers in this book are written as short, policy focused chapters that digest often longer, more academic papers in an effort to make them accessible to a larger policy and non-technical audience. In that sense, it is a policy primer: what export diversification can and cannot do for growth, and how to make it happen.

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Africa

Comprehensive empirical studies of the disarray in world agricultural markets appeared approximately 20 years ago. Since then, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has provided estimates each year of market distortions in high-income countries, but there have been no comparable estimates for the world's developing countries.

This volume is the third in a series that not only fills that void for recent years but extends the estimates in a consistent and comparable way back in time's and provides analytical narratives for scores of countries that shed light on the evolving nature and extent of policy interventions over the past half-century. This title provides an overview of the evolution of distortions to agricultural incentives caused by price and trade policies in the Arab Republic of Egypt plus 20 countries that account for about of 90 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa's population, farm households, agricultural output, and overall GDP. Sectoral, trade, and exchange rate policies in the region have changed greatly since the 1950s, and there have been substantial reforms since the 1980s. Nonetheless, numerous price distortions in this region remain, others have been added in recent years, and there has also been some backsliding, such as in Zimbabwe. The new empirical indicators in these country studies provide a strong evidence based foundation for assessing the successes and failures of the past and for evaluating policy options for the years ahead.

China's and India's Challenge to Latin America: Opportunity or Threat?
Edited by Daniel Lederman, Marcelo Olarreaga, Guillermo E. Perry, October 2008
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The economic successes of China and India are viewed with admiration but also with concern because of the effects that the growth of these Asian economies may have on the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. The evidence in "China's and India's Challenge to Latin America" indicates that certain manufacturing and service industries in some countries have been negatively affected by Chinese and Indian competition in third markets and that LAC imports from China and India have been associated with modest unemployment and adjustment costs in manufacturing industries. The book also provides substantial evidence of positive aggregate effects for LAC economies associated with China's and India's greater presence in world exports, financial flows, and innovation. Chinese and Indian growth is creating new production possibilities for LAC economies, particularly in sectors that rely on natural resources and scientific knowledge.

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Latin America
Edited by Alberto Valdes, Kym Anderson, October 2008
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The vast majority of the world's poorest households depend on farming for their livelihood. During the 1960s and 1970s, most developing countries imposed pro-urban and anti-agricultural policies, while many high-income countries restricted agricultural imports and subsidized their farmers. Both sets of policies inhibited economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Although progress has been made over the past two decades to reduce those policy biases, many trade- and welfare-reducing price distortions remain between agriculture and other sectors as well as within the agricultural sector of both rich and poor countries.

Comprehensive empirical studies of the disarray in world agricultural markets first appeared approximately 20 years ago. Since then the OECD has provided estimates each year of market distortions in high-income countries, but there has been no comparable estimates for the world's developing countries. This volume is the second in a series that not only fills that void for recent years but extends the estimates in a consistent and comparable way back in time -and provides analytical narratives for scores of countries that shed light on the evolving nature and extent of policy interventions over the past half-century.

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Latin America provides an overview of the evolution of distortions to agricultural incentives caused by price and trade policies in the economies of South America, plus the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Together these countries constitute about 80 percent of the region’s population, agricultural output, and overall GDP. The title assesses the successes and failures of the past and evaluates policy options for the years ahead.

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Europe's Transition Economies

This book provides an overview of the evolution of distortions to agricultural incentives caused by price and trade policies in the economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) that are transitioning away from central planning. It includes country and sub-regional studies of the ten transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe that joined the European Union in 2004 or 2007, of seven other large member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and of Turkey. Sectoral, trade and exchange rate policies in this region have been changed hugely since the dissolving of the Soviet Union in 1991, but much remains to be done to reduce trade barriers, and with it the anti-export bias in the policy regime of especially those countries exporting primary products. To progress reform - and to see how recent policies line up with those of the European Union (EU) - requires better information on the extent of progress during the past fifteen years and of current policy influences on incentives within and between sectors. Prior to their transition to market economies, policies in ECA countries greatly distorted producer and consumer incentives, especially for agricultural products. While those distortions have been reduced substantially in several countries, large variations remain - and distortions appear to be growing again in some of the countries. This book provides the necessary stocktake required for these countries - policymakers to be able to move reforms forward in an informed way. 

 

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Last updated on Nov 3, 2009