Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6914
Authors: Kym Anderson
Abstract: Earnings from farming in many low-income countries have been depressed by a pro-urban bias in own-country policies, as well as by governments of richer countries favoring their farmers with import barriers and subsidies. Both sets of policies reduce national and global economic welfare. The rapid development of many Asian emerging economies has been accompanied by a gradual reduction in their anti-agricultural policies, but many distortions remain and some countries have moved from negative to positive assistance for farmers, following the earlier examples of first Japan and then Korea and Taiwan. Drawing on results from a new multi-country research project, this paper examines the extent of these changes relative to those of other developing countries over the past five decades. It concludes by pointing to prospects for further policy reform in Asia.
Keywords: agricultural and trade policy reforms; Asian agricultural development; distorted incentives
JEL Codes: F13; F14; Q17; Q18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| reduction of anti-agricultural policies (Q18) | economic development (O29) |
| reduction of anti-agricultural policies (Q18) | increased agricultural assistance (Q18) |
| changes in agricultural policies (Q18) | economic outcomes for farmers (Q12) |
| reduction in implicit taxation of farmers (H23) | economic performance (P17) |
| trade policies (F13) | agricultural assistance (Q18) |
| trade policies (F13) | economic welfare of farmers (Q12) |
| gradual reduction in anti-agricultural policies (Q18) | rise in per capita income (F62) |
| transition from taxing to assisting agriculture (P32) | economic performance (P17) |