Elasticities In International Agricultural Trade

This book addresses a number of issues related to the estimation and application of elasticities in international agricultural trade. It is the outgrowth of renewed interest by researchers, traders, and others in quantifying those factors that affect international trade of agricultural products.

Agricultural trade has become an integral part of world agriculture. During the 1970s, the real growth in world agricultural trade was phenomenal. For example, the value of U. S. agricultural exports alone increased more than fivefold during this period. In April, 1978, a small group of West Coast agricultural economists (Hillman, Josling, Sarris, Schmitz, King, and McCalla) met to form what is now called the International Trade Consortium which is financed, in part, by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and Agriculture Canada. One of the products of this project was a book published in 1979 by A. F. McCalla and T. E. Josling (editors), Imperfect Markets in Agricultural Trade, Allenheld, Osmun and Co., 1981. In the same vein, this book is a result of an International Trade Consortium meeting held in Berkeley, California, in the early 1980s.

Extract: Import demand and export supply elasticities for grains, soybeans, and cotton for the Western Hemisphere countries studied suggest that neither imports nor exports will be very responsive in the medium run (2-3 years) to a reduction in U.S. commodity prices stemming from the Farm Security Act of 1985, because domestic and trade policies insulate domestic prices from changes in world prices. Import demand for feed grains and soybeans is generally more responsive to price declines than food grains. Factors other than price are often more important in influencing import decisions. But policies can change quickly, especially in many Latin American countries; a period of sustained lower U.S. prices may elicit policy changes in the long run that make import demand more responsive to lower prices.

This book addresses a number of issues related to the estimation and application of elasticities in international agricultural trade. It is the outgrowth of renewed interest by researchers, traders, and others in quantifying those factors that affect international trade of agricultural products.

Agricultural trade and development is a backbone of international trade. It includes agricultural trade patterns, commercial policy, international institutions such as WTO, Tariff and non-tariff barriers in international trade, exchange rates, biotechnology and trade, agricultural labour mobility, land reform, environment and the areas and issues spanning these areas. This book presents new and important research in the field.

In an increasingly globalized world, an understanding of the role of international trade is central to the study of agricultural economics and agribusiness. This text interweaves these two elements, explaining the theories and practices relevant to agricultural trade. Using real-life examples to explain theories and models, the text prepares readers to critically examine agricultural trade issues. In addition to its comprehensive coverage, each chapter features chapter overviews and summaries, key concepts, questions for review, and suggested readings. Explains the theories and practices relevant to agricultural trade. Uses real-life agricultural examples to convey theories and models. Offers an international perspective on an increasingly globalized market. Features extensive pedagogical material, including chapter overviews and summaries, key concepts, review questions, and suggested readings.

Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries presents research findings based on a series of commodity studies of significant economic importance to developing countries. The book sets the stage with background chapters and investigations of cross-cutting issues. It then describes trade and domestic policy regimes affecting agricultural and food markets, and assesses the resulting patterns of production and trade. The book continues with an analysis of product standards and costs of compliance and their effects on agricultural and food trade. The book also investigates the impact of preferences given to selected countries and their effectiveness, then reviews the evidence on the attempts to decouple agricultural support from agricultural output. The last background chapter explores the robustness of the global gains of multilateral agricultural and food trade liberalization. Given this context, the book presents detailed commodity studies for coffee, cotton, dairy, fruits and vegetables, groundnuts, rice, seafood products, sugar, and wheat. These markets feature distorted policy regimes among industrial or middle-income countries. The studies analyze current policy regimes in key producing and consuming countries, document the magnitude of these distortions and estimate the distributional impacts - winners and losers - of trade and domestic policy reforms. By bringing the key issues and findings together in one place, Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries aids policy makers and researchers, both in their approach to global negotiations and in evaluating their domestic policies on agriculture. The book also complements the recently published Agriculture and the WTO, which focuses primarily on the agricultural issues within the context of the WTO negotiations.