Every decade or so, food becomes newsworthy globally because of a price spike, either upwards (hurting consumers, as in 1973 and 2008) or downwards (hurting farmers in open economies, as in 1986). Most such price spikes are a consequence of major policy shifts, since local weather-induced supply...

For decades, earnings from farming in many developing countries have been depressed by a pro-urban bias in own-country policies, as well as by governments of richer countries favoring their farmers with import barriers and subsidies. Both sets of policies reduce national and global economic...

Our review of the literature suggests that the effects of GATT/WTO are insignificant or relatively small for participants in general, but potentially very large for groups that make heavy use of it. Our empirical analysis suggests that these gains are disproportionately large for the...

For decades, earnings from farming in many African countries have been depressed by own-country policies such as export restrictions on cash crop products, as well as by governments of richer countries favoring their farmers with import barriers and subsidies. Both sets of policies have reduced...

This paper deals with the quantification of GMO regulations on bilateral trade flows. A composite index of the 慶omplexity?of such regulations for sixty countries as well as an 憃bjective?score for six GMO regulatory sub-dimensions has been developed. Using a gravity model, we show how...

The agricultural and food sector is an ideal case for investigating the political economy of public policies. Many of the policy developments in this sector since the 1950s have been sudden and transformational, while others have been gradual but persistent. This article reviews and synthesizes...

This report examines the different channels through which trade openness (and reforms to achieve it) can affect a country’s food security. The overall conclusion is that trade openness has a positive net impact on food security, although specific constituencies, including some poor households,...

Despite a professed commitment to free trade, Canada has retained a staunchly protectionist supply management regime in several agricultural sectors, notably in the dairy industry. Canada’s dairy farms are governed by a byzantine system that prices milk based on intended usage, locks out most...

Over the last 15 years, the global trade of virgin olive oil (VOO) seems to face a stringent regulatory regime, mainly through the imposition of TBT and SPS measures. Such a development should have adversely impacted global levels of VOO trade. However, evidence shows that the world's imports of...

We investigate Botswana's beef export competitiveness using indices of Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and data for the period 1961-2011. Results indicate that Botswana has been the most competitive SADC beef exporter, and that it has compared well with the leading world beef exporters....