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The Plundering of Agriculture in Developing Countries

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  • Maurice Schiff
  • Alberto Valdes

Abstract

The findings and policy implications presented in this paper are based on The World Bank Comparative Study of Agricultural Pricing Policies in Developing Countries, which examined agricultural pricing interventions in eighteen developing countries during 1960-- 85, as well as on the evolution since 1985. The results of the study have been published in a five-volume series, The Political Economy of Agricultural Pricing Policy (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press), edited by Anne O. Krueger, Maurice Schiff, and Alberto Valdés. This paper draws on the findings of volume 4, A Synthesis of the Economics in Developing Countries, by Maurice Schiff and Alberto Valdés. Research on development strategies and trade regimes in developing countries since the early 1970s has consistently found that countries that have adopted outward-oriented strategies have been more successful than countries that sought to build their industrial sector through inward-oriented strategies of import substitution (Little, Scitovsky, and Scott 1970; Balassa 1971; Bhagwati 1978; and Krueger 1978, 1983). But none of these comparative studies explicitly examined agriculture or looked systematically at the impact of trade or other types of indirect intervention on agricultural incentives. The World Bank research reported here fills these gaps by assessing the effects on agriculture of both direct and indirect price interventions during twenty-five years (1960-1985) in eighteen representative developing countries, using a common conceptual framework and methodology. The research developed measures of the impact of direct and indirect price policy interventions on relative prices within agriculture and between agriculture and the rest of the economy. These measures were then used to estimate the effects of price interventions on agricultural production, consumption, foreign exchange earnings, the budget, income transfers between agriculture and the rest of the economy, and income distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Maurice Schiff & Alberto Valdes, 1994. "The Plundering of Agriculture in Developing Countries," Reports _013, World Bank Latin America and the Caribean Region Department.
  • Handle: RePEc:wop:bawlad:_013
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    1. Breisinger, Clemens & van Rheenen, Teunis & Ringler, Claudia & Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Minot, Nicholas & Aragon, Catherine & Yu, Bingxin & Ecker, Olivier & Zhu, Tingju, 2010. "Food security and economic development in the Middle East and North Africa," IFPRI discussion papers 985, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Cummings, Ralph Jr. & Rashid, Shahidur & Gulati, Ashok, 2006. "Grain price stabilization experiences in Asia: What have we learned?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 302-312, August.
    3. Roe, Terry L. & Gopinath, Munisamy, 1996. "World Trade Issues And Food Security," Working Papers 14425, University of Minnesota, Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy.
    4. Servaas Storm & J. Mohan Rao, 2002. "Agricultural Globalization in Developing Countries: Rules, Rationales and Results," Working Papers wp71, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    5. Gafar, John, 1997. "The supply response of aggregate agricultural output in Jamaica," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 205-217, August.
    6. Irz, Xavier T. & Roe, Terry L., 2000. "Can the world feed itself? Some insights from growth theory," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 39(4), pages 1-16, December.
    7. Irz, Xavier T. & Roe, Terry L., 2000. "Growth Pattern, Sustainability And Trade In A Land Constrained Economy," 2000 Annual meeting, July 30-August 2, Tampa, FL 21762, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    8. Khan, Mahmood Hasan, 2001. "Agricultural taxation in developing countries: a survey of issues and policy," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 315-328, March.
    9. Gelan, Ayele, 2004. "System-wide Impacts of Agricultural Export Taxes: A Simulation Experiment with Ethiopian Data," MPRA Paper 1490, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Barrett, Christopher B., 1997. "Liberalization and food price distributions: ARCH-M evidence from Madagascar," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 155-173, April.
    11. Fenyes, Tamas I. & Meyer, Nicolas G., 1998. "Agricultural Policy And Macroeconomic Issues In South Africa In Perspective," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 37(1), pages 1-23, March.
    12. Deininger, Klaus & Feder, Gershon, 2001. "Land institutions and land markets," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 288-331, Elsevier.
    13. J. Mohan Rao & Vamsi Vakulabharanam, 2009. "Agrarian Distress under Global Integration: Impoverishing Growth and “Perverse” Supply Response," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 3, August.
    14. Parker, A.N., 1997. "Participation and decentralisation in rural development: Lessons from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 36(4), pages 1-12, December.
    15. Ravallion, Martin, 2009. "Are There Lessons for Africa from China's Success Against Poverty?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 303-313, February.
    16. Yaron, Jacob & Benjamin, McDonald & Charitonenko, Stephanie, 1998. "Promoting Efficient Rural Financial Intermediation," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 13(2), pages 147-170, August.
    17. Jayne, Thomas S. & Jones, Stephen P., 1996. "Food Marketing and Pricing Policy in Eastern and Southern Africa: Lessons for Increasing Agricultural Productivity and Access to Food," Food Security International Development Working Papers 54694, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    18. Rashid, Shahidur & Cummings, Ralph Jr. & Gulati, Ashok, 2005. "Grain marketing parastatals in Asia," MTID discussion papers 80, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Diao, Xinshen & Fan, Shenggen & Headey, Derek & Johnson, Michael & Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Yu, Bingxin, 2008. "Accelerating Africa's food production in response to rising food prices: Impacts and requisite actions," IFPRI discussion papers 825, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Lipton, Michael, 2005. "The family farm in a globalizing world: the role of crop science in alleviating poverty," 2020 vision discussion papers 40, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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