Agricultural Trade Regimes: Impact on Sector Proportions, Real Incomes and Hunger in the World.

In the article the consequences of agricultural trade liberalization are explored with the help of the Basic Linked System (BLS) of national models developed by the Food and Agricultural Program (FAP) of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). After a brief description of the model characteristics, the consequences of agricultural trade liberalization (1) by only the less developed contries, (2) by only the OECD countries, and (3) by all market economies are explored with respect to the impact on (a) the global market environment, (b) domestic relative prices, (c) sectoral composition, (d) real incomes, and (e) level of chronic hunger. The results of these model calculations indicate that a move to liberalized trade results in a small change in growth but that the impact on sectoral balance and hunger is significant, though not always favorable. Copyright 1988 by Oxford University Press.