The 1 August 2004 Framework Agreement stated that developing countries would have access to a Special Safeguard Mechanism and Special Products designation as part of special and differential treatment within a new WTO Doha Round agricultural agreement. This was confirmed in the Ministerial...

Why do developing countries fail to specialize in products in which they appear to have a comparative advantage? We propose a model of agricultural trade with intermediation that explains how hold-up resulting from poor contracting environments can produce such an outcome. We use the model to...