This paper offers a theory of development that links the degree of market incompleteness to capital accumulation and growth. At early stages of development, the presence of indivisible projects limits the degree of risk spreading (diversification) that the economy can achieve. The desire to...

The issue of climate change has at long last made its way into mainstream policy discussions in the United States. However, the focus both in the United States and internationally has been on reducing energy production and transportation emissions. This has led the media, policy makers and the...

The direct regulation of prices for vegetable oil, sugar, and bread has helped to stop their growth, however it has not resulted in halting food inflation as a whole. Restrictive measures on wheat exports have led to world prices growth but when put into effect they can reduce prices for the...

In the trade policy debate, the complete liberalisation of world trade for agricultural products is one of the most relevant issues. European Union is a free trade area where agricultural products are protected and supported from the world market forces, more than any other good or service. The...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) produce long-term agricultural projections for key indicators of agricultural commodities. These baseline projections...

India's policy responses to the food price crisis were strong. Exports of basic staples were banned. Domestic support prices of wheat and rice were raised substantially. The urea price increases in global markets were absorbed through enhanced fertilizer subsidies. The government launched the...

Biotic factors such as pests create biodiversity effects that increase production risks and decrease land productivity when agriculture becomes more specialized. We show in a Ricardian two-country trade setup that production specialization is incomplete under free trade because of the decrease...

This report synthesises OECD work analysing agricultural policies, markets and trade. It highlights recent developments in agricultural markets and policies and considers how these have changed the source and nature of the gains from multilateral reform, and considers opportunities for further...