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Agricultural Trade Policies and Food Security: Is there a Causal Relationship?

Author

Listed:
  • Emiliano Magrini

    (Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy)

  • Pierluigi Montalbano

    (Sapienza, University of Rome)

  • Silvia Nenci

    (University of Rome 3)

  • Luca Salvatici

    (University of Rome 3)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the causal impact of trade policy distortions on food security. The added value of this work is twofold: i) its use of a non-parametric matching technique with continuous treatment, namely the Generalised Propensity Score (GPS) to address the self selection bias; ii) its analysis of heterogeneity in treatment (by commodities) as well as in outcome (i.e. different dimensions of food security). The results of our estimates clearly show that trade policy distortions are, overall, significantly correlated with the various dimensions of food security analysed. Both discrimination against agriculture and 'excessive' support lead to poor performances in all dimensions of food security (availability, access, utilisation and stability).

Suggested Citation

  • Emiliano Magrini & Pierluigi Montalbano & Silvia Nenci & Luca Salvatici, 2014. "Agricultural Trade Policies and Food Security: Is there a Causal Relationship?," Working Papers 9/14, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    • Handle: RePEc:saq:wpaper:9/14
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    2. Christensen, Cheryl, 2018. "Progress and Challenges in Global Food Security," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 0(01), February.
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    4. Lodovico Muratori & Susanne Fricke, 2017. "Spatial price transmission and trade policies: new evidence for agricultural products from selected sub-Saharan African countries with high frequency data," Jena Economics Research Papers 2017-006, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    5. Esposti, Roberto, 2014. "The Impact of the 2005 CAP-First Pillar Reform as a Multivalued Treatment Effect -Alternative Estimation Approaches," 2014 Third Congress, June 25-27, 2014, Alghero, Italy 173005, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    6. Laura Forastiere & Davide Del Prete & Valerio Leone Sciabolazza, 2020. "Causal Inference on Networks under Continuous Treatment Interference," Papers 2004.13459, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2023.
    7. Götz, Linde & Djuric, Ivan & Nivievskyi, Oleg, 2016. "Regional wheat price effects of extreme weather events and wheat export controls in Russia and Ukraine [Regionale Weizenpreiseffekte von Wetterextremen und Weizenexportkontrollen in Russland und de," IAMO Discussion Papers 154, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    8. Linde Götz & Ivan Djuric & Oleg Nivievskyi, 2016. "Regional Price Effects of Extreme Weather Events and Wheat Export Controls in Russia and Ukraine," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(3), pages 741-763, September.
    9. Roberto ESPOSTI, 2014. "To match, not to match, how to match: Estimating the farm-level impact of the CAP-first pillar reform (or: How to Apply Treatment-Effect Econometrics when the Real World is;a Mess)," Working Papers 403, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    10. Marcella Corsi & Marina De Angelis & Pierluigi Montalbano, 2013. "The Gender Impact of Microfinance: The Case of Wekembe in Uganda," Working Papers CEB 13-045, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Food security; International trade; Trade measures; Impact evaluation; GPS.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade

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