HAVE PRICE POLICIES DAMAGED LDC AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY?

"This paper examines price policies and agricultural productivity in 18 developing countries over the period 1961-1985. We measure productivity with both a nonparametric Malmquist index and a production function, confirming previous findings of declining agricultural productivity, but with sufficient inconsistencies as to raise concern about the adequacy of the methods. We nonetheless find considerable support for the hypothesis that unfavorable price policies have damaged agricultural productivity performance in these countries. (JEL" 04, Ql) Copyright 1999 Western Economic Association International.