The Effects of Liberalizing the Yellow Maize Market in Guatemala: a Partial Equilibrium Multi-market Approach

A simple multi-market framework is built to simulate the likely effects of trade liberalisation in the yellow maize market on the most relevant group of agricultural products in Guatemala. Households are affected by this policy in their double role of producers and consumers. Changes in welfare are assessed by means of a measure that accounts for the responses from different regions and socioeconomic conditions to changes in prices after the implementation of policy changes. The results indicate that the policy measure is likely to relatively improve the well being of the poorest households in Guatemala. However, after distinguishing peasants according to their land tenure characteristics, in the regions where agricultural products have greater relevance, some losses appear.